Impact of COVID-19 on melanoma diagnosis

Abstract

Melanoma, the leading cause of death from skin cancer, has a strong propensity for rapid local growth and distant spread unless diagnosed and removed promptly [1]. Efforts to curb the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the New York City metropolitan area during the spring of 2020 resulted in widespread disruptions to medical practices, including the provision of routine dermatologic care. We sought to examine the impact of the pandemic and the attendant regional lockdown on melanoma diagnoses rendered by our dermatopathology section, which provides diagnostic services to 250 clinicians from approximately 50 dermatology and other medical practices within our hospital system and the surrounding community. We compared the histopathological characteristics of melanomas diagnosed immediately following the first regional lockdown to those during the same time period in the preceding 5 years.