2024 Funded Project

CFDHRE Peer Reviewed Grant

Project Title:

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oral cancer incidence in British Columbia

Principal Applicant

Denise Laronde, PhD, DHP(C), from the University of British Columbia

Co-Applicant

Ilena Yim, MSc, BDSc, DHP(C), from the University of British Columbia

Dental visits provide the perfect opportunity for oral cancer screenings. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been interruptions to routine dental visits, combined with an increase in oral cancer risk factors, such as the use of tobacco and alcohol. It is important to know if the pandemic has impacted the number of cases of oral cancer. Oral cancer, if diagnosed late, leads to poor survival rates and increased complications related to delayed treatment. The goal of our research is to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the number of new cases (incidence) of oral cancer in British Columbia, Canada. To our knowledge, there is no research comparing pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic oral cancer incidence trends in British Columbia. For this project, incidence and associated demographic and clinical data for oral cancers diagnosed from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2022 will be retrieved from the BC Cancer Registry, which is a database that collects information for all new cancers diagnosed in British Columbia. We will compare observed post-COVID-19 to predicted post-COVID-19 incidence counts and rates of oral cancer. Post-COVID-19 will be set as March 2020 and after. Predicted post-COVID-19 data will be based on the trend obtained from pre-COVID-19 data. We will also perform these comparisons for demographics and cancer diagnosis details. The results of this research will be able to direct screening efforts of oral health professionals and public health measures to support early prevention, detection, and management of oral cancer.

Contributors

BC Cancer Research Institute and the University of British Columbia

Award

$10,000