Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36646004›Full record

SynthesisBreast (Edinburgh, Scotland)2023

A systematic review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer screening and diagnosis.

Tong Li, Brooke Nickel, Preston Ngo, Kathleen McFadden, Meagan Brennan, M Luke Marinovich, Nehmat Houssami

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
63citing papers in PubMed
21.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

63 citing papers in PubMed, 95 citations in OpenAlex.

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  15. Emerging Nanozyme Strategies for Precision Breast Cancer Treatment.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025
    Review
  16. BRCA genetic testing utilization and expenditures among privately insured adults in the United States, 2013 to 2022.Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics · 2025
    Article
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  20. Observational

3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Tong LiThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, Australia; School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: t.li@sydney.edu.au.
Brooke NickelSchool of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Preston NgoThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, Australia.
Kathleen McFaddenThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, Australia.
Meagan BrennanWestmead Breast Cancer Institute, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
M Luke MarinovichThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, Australia; School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Nehmat HoussamiThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, Australia; School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The University of Sydney · AUWestmead Hospital · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBreast cancer care has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This systematic review aims to describe the observed pandemic-related changes in clinical and health services outcomes for breast screening and diagnosis.

methodsSeven databases (January 2020-March 2021) were searched to identify studies of breast cancer screening or diagnosis that reported observed outcomes before and related to the pandemic. Findings were presented using a descriptive and narrative approach.

resultsSeventy-four studies were included in this systematic review; all compared periods before and after (or fluctuations during) the pandemic. None were assessed as being at low risk of bias. A reduction in screening volumes during the pandemic was found with over half of studies reporting reductions of ≥49%. A majority (66%) of studies reported reductions of ≥25% in the number of breast cancer diagnoses, and there was a higher proportion of symptomatic than screen-detected cancers. The distribution of cancer stage at diagnosis during the pandemic showed lower proportions of early-stage (stage 0-1/I-II, or Tis and T1) and higher proportions of relatively more advanced cases than that in the pre-pandemic period, however population rates were generally not reported.

conclusionsEvidence of substantial reductions in screening volume and number of diagnosed breast cancers, and higher proportions of advanced stage cancer at diagnosis were found during the pandemic. However, these findings reflect short term outcomes, and higher-quality research examining the long-term impact of the pandemic is needed.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsCOVID-19COVID-19 TestingEarly Detection of CancerFemaleHumansNeoplasm StagingPandemicsBreast cancerCOVID-19DiagnosisMammographyPandemicScreening

Identifiers

PMID36646004
PMCPMC9813855
OpenAlexW4313557336

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.