• Duration of delay in presentation to hospital [ Time Frame: 18 months ]
  It was time counted from the day when the participant first felt breast symptom on self assessment or during diagnostic workup and than presented for the first time to hospital for diagnostic or treatment workup purpose
• Duration of delay in definitive treatment [ Time Frame: 18 months ]
  It was counted from the day of first presentation to hospital till the day of initiation of definitive treatment (chemo/surgery)
• Cancer upstaging [ Time Frame: 18 months ]
  It was assessed by reassessing the patient by comparison of disease stage on first time diagnostic workup results and than reassessing the stage of cancer during consecutive visits to hospital , and the effect of delay in treatment and presentation on cancer upstaging of participants related to covid 19 pandemic is evaluated .

• Duration of delay in presentation to hospital [ Time Frame: 13 months ]
  It was time counted from the day when the participant first felt breast symptom on self assessment or during diagnostic workup and than presented for the first time to hospital for diagnostic or treatment workup purpose
• Duration of delay in definitive treatment [ Time Frame: 13 months ]
  It was counted from the day of first presentation to hospital till the day of initiation of definitive treatment (chemo/surgery)
• Cancer upstaging [ Time Frame: 13 months ]
  It was assessed by reassessing the patient by comparison of disease stage on first time diagnostic workup results and than reassessing the stage of cancer during consecutive visits to hospital , and the effect of delay in treatment and presentation on cancer upstaging of participants related to covid 19 pandemic is evaluated .

This retrospective observational study was conducted at department of surgery PNS Shifa hospital Karachi after obtaining permission from ethical review committee. Participant's data of all operated cases for suspicious lump breast (abnormal findings on ultrasound and mammogram, BIRAD III or above and abnormal FNAC results;C3 or above) from January1,2020 to 31 January 2021 was retrieved. Out of these only those participants were included in whom the diagnosis of breast cancer was confirmed on histo-pathological examination. Participants who had already had their surgery pre covid (December 2019), were excluded. Data were collected on standard pre-designed questionnaire and from paper documents retrieved from patient records. Participant presentation time was calculated as the time interval between the appearance of the first symptoms of breast cancer (day 0) and the date of initial presentation to hospital by patient and consultation for breast symptoms. Time taken for start of treatment was calculated by counting number of days from the first presentation day to hospital until the date when definitive treatment for Carcinoma Breast was initiated (chemo/radio/surgery). Time duration for definitive surgery was counted from the day of first presentation to the hospital till the date surgery was conducted(modified radical mastectomy (MRM)/breast conserving surgery (BCS)/toilet mastectomy).

Presentation 'Delay' was defined as a patient reporting to the hospital for medical advice 30 days after noticing the first possible symptoms of breast cancer while time taken for start of treatment was calculated form time of first presentation to hospital (day 0) till the first day of start of definitive first treatment for breast cancer. The investigator labelled delay in treatment if it was initiated later than 62days .

The questionnaire inquired about the symptoms, date of presentation of the first symptoms, date of first reporting to hospital, reasons for the delayed presentation.

All patients who were admitted and underwent pre anesthesia assessment underwent COVID testing according to the protocol. If the patient turned out COVID positive, their symptoms were noted and the COVID team (infectious disease department) was notified. The quarantine protocol at investigating hospital was, complete isolation for 14 days with one PCR-negative report after completing quarantine, with no residual respiratory symptoms of cough, fever, and shortness of breath. This protocol was followed for all elective breast surgery patients admitted in the hospital. All COVID-positive patients underwent the same treatment protocol as non-COVID patients with regards to management of breast cancer. Patients with early breast cancer (upto stage 2A) underwent modified radical mastectomy/breast conservative surgery first, followed by chemotherapy/radiotherapy, locally advanced cases (stage 2B and above) had neo-adjuvant treatment first followed by surgery, and advanced cases(stage 4/metastatic) underwent palliative treatment.

All the data obtained were analyzed using IBM SPSS 23.0. Descriptive statistics like age were presented as range and means. Categorical data were analyzed using fisher exact test and t-test was applied to numerical data. In all cases, a 95% confidence interval was used and p value <0.05 was considered significant.

Patient's data of all operated cases for suspicious lump breast (abnormal findings on ultrasound and mammogram, BIRAD III or above and abnormal FNAC results;C3 or above) from January1,2020 to 31 January 2021was retrieved. Out of these only those patients were included in whom the diagnosis of breast cancer was confirmed on histo-pathological examination. Patients who had already had their surgery pre covid (December 2019), were excluded. Data were collected on standard pre-designed questionnaire and from paper documents retrieved from patient records.

All patients who were admitted and underwent pre anesthesia assessment underwent COVID testing according to the protocol.

• Covid19
• Breast Cancer Stage
• Isolation, Social
• Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

• Gulzar F, Akhtar MS, Sadiq R, Bashir S, Jamil S, Baig SM. Identifying the reasons for delayed presentation of Pakistani breast cancer patients at a tertiary care hospital. Cancer Manag Res. 2019 Jan 29;11:1087-1096. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S180388. eCollection 2019.
• Khan MA, Shafique S, Khan MT, Shahzad MF, Iqbal S. Presentation delay in breast cancer patients, identifying the barriers in North Pakistan. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2015;16(1):377-80.
• Vuagnat P, Frelaut M, Ramtohul T, Basse C, Diakite S, Noret A, Bellesoeur A, Servois V, Hequet D, Laas E, Kirova Y, Cabel L, Pierga JY; Institut Curie Breast Cancer and COVID Group, Bozec L, Paoletti X, Cottu P, Bidard FC. COVID-19 in breast cancer patients: a cohort at the Institut Curie hospitals in the Paris area. Breast Cancer Res. 2020 May 28;22(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s13058-020-01293-8.
• Elghazawy H, Bakkach J, Zaghloul MS, Abusanad A, Hussein MM, Alorabi M, Eldin NB, Helal T, Zaghloul TM, Venkatesulu BP, Elghazaly H, Al-Sukhun S. Implementation of breast cancer continuum of care in low- and middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future Oncol. 2020 Nov;16(31):2551-2567. doi: 10.2217/fon-2020-0574. Epub 2020 Jul 27. Review.

Inclusion Criteria:

• diagnosis of breast cancer confirmed on histo-pathological examination

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who had already had their surgery pre covid (December 2019)