New cancer diagnoses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba, Canada

Disruptions to health care during the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to missed cancer diagnoses. A cross-sectional study including 48,378 patients with a cancer diagnosis between 2015 and 2021 in Manitoba found a significant decrease in cancer diagnosis incidence in the first few months of the pandemic, particularly in breast, colon, and rectal cancer incidence. Other cancer sites showed minimal long-term changes in incidence. The authors conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an initial decrease in cancer diagnoses incidence followed by a return to previous incidence rates for most cancer sites.