Histology and staging of patients with lung cancer at presentation before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
| Disease characteristics | Pre-COVID-19 (%) (n=228) | During COVID-19 (%) (n=196) | Post COVID-19–2021 (%) (n=244) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Histology | ||||
| SCLC | 9.69 | 8.29 | 8.7 | 0.865 |
| NSCLC squamous | 27.8 | 12.4 | 26.9 | 0.0002 |
| NSCLC adenocarcinoma | 37 | 40.9 | 39.4 | 0.706 |
| NSCLC NOS | 0 | 1.55 | 1.8 | 0.159 |
| No histology | 25.6 | 34.7 | 23.2 | 0.0226 |
| TNM classification | ||||
| T1 | 17.5 | 17.1 | 17.3 | 0.997 |
| T2 | 16.5 | 19.8 | 17.8 | 0.684 |
| T3 | 22.2 | 19.3 | 21.3 | 0.765 |
| T4 | 43.9 | 41.7 | 42.4 | 0.954 |
| Tx | 0 | 2.08 | 1.2 | 0.124 |
| N0 | 31.1 | 32.1 | 30.3 | 0.908 |
| N1 | 7.55 | 11.5 | 8.2 | 0.339 |
| N2 | 23.6 | 32.2 | 25.6 | 0.193 |
| N3 | 37.3 | 25 | 35.9 | 0.0157 |
| Nx | 0.472 | 0 | 0 | 0.357 |
| M0 | 46.7 | 50 | 49.3 | 0.783 |
| M1 | 53.3 | 50 | 50.7 | 0.783 |
| WHO staging | ||||
| I | 14.5 | 17.2 | 18.3 | 0.519 |
| II | 7.94 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 0.978 |
| III | 27.1 | 24.5 | 25.6 | 0.827 |
| IV | 50.5 | 50 | 48.3 | 0.893 |
NOS = not otherwise specified; NSCLC = non-small cell lung cancer; SCLC = small cell lung cancer; TNM = classification of malignant tumours; WHO = World Health Organization.