Colorectal cancer patients fared worse after COVID lockdowns, study findsPatients diagnosed as having metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) after COVID-19 lockdowns in France had significantly higher tumor burdens and died sooner than those diagnosed before the pandemic, shows a multicenter study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.In the study, a team led by researchers at the Universite de Montpellier evaluated the tumor burden of 80 patients at 18 centers with mCRC using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in plasma, which the authors said rises with increasing tumor size.
The patients (median age, 62 years) were enrolled in a phase 2 clinical trial comparing the activity of two drug combinations.The 40 patients diagnosed after the spring 2020