Cancer survival during the COVID-19 pandemic in the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership

Abstract Introduction While cancer survival has improved over decades, the COVID-19 pandemic introduced challenges to cancer care. This study compares 1-year survival among patients diagnosed in 2020 with those diagnosed in 2018-2019. Methods We obtained patient-level data for colon, rectal, lung, breast, and ovarian cancer diagnosed in 2018-2020 from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK, with follow-up to 2021. We included patients aged 15-99 years and estimated 1-year age-standardized net survival (ASNS) using the Pohar Perme estimator with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Cancer diagnoses showed a minor decline in 2020 compared to previous years. 1-year ASNS remained stable across countries except for significant changes in Australia and the UK. In Australia, lung cancer ASNS increased from 57.2 (95% CI: 55.5-58.9) in 2018 to 62.2 (95% CI: 60.6-63.7) in 2019. Conversely, the UK experienced significant decreases across most cancers; for example, rectum cancer ASNS dropped from 85.3 (95% CI: 84.7-85.9) in 2019 to 83.0 (95% CI: 82.2-83.7) in 2020. These trends were consistent across age, sex, and stage groups, with men and older patients showing lower survival. Discussion Short-term cancer survival remained stable in most high-income countries during the pandemic, showing health system resilience. Due to its larger sample size, the UK may detect year-to-year differences more rapidly than other countries. Long-term studies are needed to assess ongoing impacts. Key messages • Short-term cancer survival remained stable in most high-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating health system resilience. • The UK showed significant 1-year survival drops in 2020 for several cancers; large sample size may reveal trends sooner than in other countries.