CONCLUSION
A temporary reduction in the incidence of RCC and especially early stage
RCC should be expected as a result of the decrease in the frequency of
incidentally detected RCC due to the decline in hospital admissions
during the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders, postponement of all
non-emergency surgeries, and the fact that healthcare professionals were
busy managing the pandemic. However, a proportional increase in the rate
of symptomatic patients and metastatic patients should be expected in
this period due to recommendations for patients experiencing concerning
symptoms to continue applying to hospitals. After the COVID-19 pandemic,
it is possible to encounter higher rates of advanced stage RCCs and
metastatic RCCs. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and its
end cannot be predicted, the importance of early surgical treatment
should be kept in mind by comparing the risk-benefit ratio in cancers
such as RCC that have high metastasis rates at the time of diagnosis and
after curative surgery.