COVID-19 and Cancer in the Nordic Region:
This project is funded by the Nordic Cancer Union. The PI of the project is Dr Giske Ursin, Director of the Cancer Registry of Norway (CRN) and the Project Manager is Assistant Professor Anna Johansson, Project Manager, CRN & Karolinska Institutet. The population-based cancer registries in all five Nordic countries and Faro Islands are involved in the study.
The project will examine:
To what extent the COVID-19 pandemic affected diagnosis and cancer care in the Nordic countries by comparing:
- cancer incidence rates,
- stage at diagnosis and time from diagnosis to treatment during the pandemic to the time before the pandemic.
The excess mortality from all causes among cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the time before the pandemic.
The incidence of COVID-19 in cancer patients.
The risk of severe COVID-19 disease (hospitalized, intensive care, length of stay) or death due to COVID-19 in cancer patients.
The five University Hospitals in Finland have also launched in 2020 a multicenter study on the effects of COVID-19 infection on various aspects of diagnosis and treatment of cancer and the impact of COVID-19 on the quality-of-life of cancer patients. The study is lead by Professor Sirpa Leppä, University of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University Hospital and Professor Peeter Karihtala, University of Helsinki and HUS Helsinki University Hospital.