Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Surgical Management of Head and Neck Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers in a Maxillofacial Center of Cluj-Napoca

Sep 21, 2026

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The COVID-19 period disrupted cancer care through delayed non-emergency services, raising concern that treatment for non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) might be adversely affected. This study assessed how pandemic management influenced NMSC treatment in an Eastern European maxillofacial surgery center. A cohort of 176 head and neck NMSC patients surgically treated in Cluj-Napoca Emergency County Hospital from 2016–2022 was analyzed by pre-pandemic (2016–2019) versus COVID-19 (2020–2022) periods. Results showed a 46.15% reduction in hospitalization, while tumor stage and reconstruction preferences remained unchanged despite longer surgical waiting times. Conclusions indicate stable surgical treatment despite lower patient access, with overall benefit from tumor removal outweighing COVID-19 hospitalization infection risk.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Materials and Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Epidemiology and types of NMSC

Risk factors for BCC and SCC

Treatment approach and surgical management

Article Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Surgical Management of Head and Neck Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers in a Maxillofacial Center of Cluj-Napoca Rares, Călin Roman 1,†, Cosmin Ioan Faur 2, *, Edina Gordan 3,†, Mădălina Văleanu 4 and Mădălina Anca Moldovan 1 Citation: Roman, R.C.; Faur, C.I.; Gordan, E.; Văleanu, M.; Moldovan, M.A. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Surgical Management of Head and Neck Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers in a Maxillofacial Center of Cluj-Napoca. J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13, 3934. [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[doi.org/10.3390/jcm13133934](doi.org/10.3390/jcm13133934) Academic Editors: Alan Fleischer and Gábor Répássy Received: 24 May 2024 Revised: 14 June 2024 Accepted: 3 July 2024 Published: 4 July 2024 Copyright: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Implantology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; [raresroman@yahoo.com](raresroman@yahoo.com) (R.C.R.) 2 Department of Oral Radiology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 3 Faculty of Dental Medicine, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 4 Department of Statistics, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400347 Cluj-Napoca, Romania * Correspondence: [cosmin.faur@yahoo.com](cosmin.faur@yahoo.com) † These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract: Background: The COVID-19 era has been a bleak period for both cancer and non-cancer patients, with delayed non-emergency treatments, such as for non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) . This study aimed to evaluate how the treatment of NMSC patients was influenced by the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in an Eastern European Maxillofacial Surgery center. Materials and Methods: A total of 176 patients with a histopathological diagnosis of head and neck NMSC who were surgically treated in Cluj-Napoca Emergency County Hospital between 2016 and 2022 were included in this study, and divided into two samples, pre-pandemic (2016–2019) and COVID-19 (2020–2022) periods. Results: The pandemic presented with a decrease of 46.15% in patients’ hospitalization, with wealthy and educated patients being prevalent. Even if the waiting time for surgery was increased, the stage of cancer and preference method for reconstruction did not differ. Despite the lower addressability of NMSC patients during the pandemic, there were no changes in surgical treatment. Conclusions: During COVID-19, the number of patients was reduced, with a longer waiting time for surgery, but without any changes in tumor stage and treatment preferences. However, the benefit of removing a cancer tumor is higher compared to the risk of developing COVID-19 infection during hospitalization Keywords: head and neck cancer; skin cancer; non-melanoma skin cancer; COVID-19 pandemic 1. Introduction Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is today one of the most common malignancy cases worldwide. According to recent statistics, NMSC ranks 5th place with over 1.2 million new cases (excluding basal cell carcinoma) from a total of 20.0 million cancer diagnoses globally in 2022 . North America had the highest incidence of NMSC (49.5%) followed by Europe (26.7%) [1] . Since the 1960s, the incidence of NMSC has increased from 4% to 8% each year [2] . There are multiple types of non-melanoma skin cancers, with the most common being basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) . It is estimated that every year, approximately 5.4 million lesions are detected in the United States. BCC is a lot more common (80% of NMS

FAQs

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect hospitalization numbers for NMSC patients in the study center?

The pandemic period showed a decrease of 46.15% in patients’ hospitalization compared with the pre-pandemic period.

Did the longer waiting time for surgery during COVID-19 change cancer stage or reconstruction preferences?

Although waiting time for surgery increased, the cancer stage and the preference method for reconstruction did not differ between periods.

What did the study conclude about surgical treatment changes during COVID-19?

Despite lower addressability of NMSC patients during the pandemic, surgical treatment showed no changes in overall approach, while tumor removal benefits outweighed the risk of developing COVID-19 infection during hospitalization.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Aria