What impact could COVID-19-related delays of prostate cancer therapy have on patient survival?

Throughout the pandemic cancer services and treatment have been delayed in order to protect patients from COVID-19 exposure. A new study by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (MA, USA) investigated the impact of prostate cancer treatment delays for unfavorable intermediate-risk or high-risk localized prostate cancer. Recently published in JAMA Oncology, the results suggest that delaying radiation while remaining on hormone therapy is unlikely to impact on survival. In a cohort of 63,000 cases of localized prostate cancer in the National Cancer Database, the team separated cases into four groups based on when radiation was started relative to hormone therapy....