·
NHS
England said it has seen three quarters as many lung cancer patients
·
People
may mistake symptoms of lung cancer for tell-tale signs of
coronavirus
·
Late
diagnosis of lung cancer has significantly worse chances of survival
·
Those
with ongoing symptoms urged to see a doctor as soon as possible
By EMILY WEBBER FOR MAILONLINEPUBLISHED: 07:41 EST, 17
February 2021 | UPDATED: 16:11
EST, 17 February 2021
Thousands of people with lung cancer have
gone undiagnosed in England in the past year, the NHS has warned.
Health chiefs say people may be mistaking
symptoms of the disease for coronavirus or avoiding getting medical help
because they think the NHS is too busy.
Lung cancer is one of the biggest killers in
the UK and caused the deaths of almost 20,000 people in 2018 — behind only to
dementia and heart disease.
It is extremely difficult to treat and only
around one in 10 patients survive for more than a decade after first being
diagnosed.
The NHS in England said it has only seen
about three quarters of the number of lung cancer patients it usually would
during the coronavirus pandemic, meaning 'a few thousand' people have gone
without the medical care they need.
Doctors are urging people with long-lasting
symptoms they think could be serious to come forward for medical help and not
to put it off because they are afraid of being a burden on the health service.
Hospitals are still seeing cancer patients or
those referred for suspected cancer, and GPs can still see people about
concerns.
Symptoms of lung cancer include having a
cough for more than three weeks, coughing up blood and chest pain.
NHS England said more than 39,000 people are
diagnosed with lung cancer each year.
And late diagnosis has significantly worse
chances of survival compared to cases caught in the earliest stages, before the
disease has had a chance to spread.
People whose cancer is caught early at stage
one have an approximately 58 per cent chance of living for another five years,
compared to 3 per cent for those diagnosed later at stage four.
NHS England said more people were coming
forward for cancer checks since the first peak of the pandemic, but lung cancer
referrals were 'at 73 per cent of the same point last year'.
Professor Pete Johnson, the national director
for cancer in NHS England, told Sky News: 'We've worked really hard in the NHS,
even while we've dealt with the coronavirus pandemic to make sure that cancer
diagnosis and treatment has continued.
54-YEAR-OLD DIES OF
CANCER AFTER STRUGGLING TO GET GP APPOINTMENT IN LOCKDOWN
Andy Steels, 54, from
Hull, tested negative on two occasions for Covid-19, despite developing a
chesty cough around the same time the pandemic was taking its grip on the
UK.
The father and
grandfather died the day after his 54th birthday, just six weeks after his
diagnosis with lung cancer.
Mr Steels, who lived with
his wife Jo, was the popular co-owner of AJS Tyres and continued to graft
despite falling ill, eventually getting a phone appointment with a doctor on
June 15.
He was referred for an
emergency chest x-ray in June and, after numerous tests, he was phoned at work
by his GP who revealed his devastating diagnosis.
He had developed stage
four lung cancer.
Andy was admitted to
Castle Hill Hospital for treatment but was found to be too unwell for
chemotherapy.
The cancer had spread
throughout his body, including into his liver and kidneys. His funeral was held
on August 18.
'We're really up to normal except in lung
cancer where we've only seen about three quarters of the normal numbers of
people we would expect to see during that time.
'And I think a lot of that is because the symptoms
of Covid – cough and breathlessness – are very similar to those of lung cancer.
'So we want to really make sure that if
people have had a cough that's gone on for more than three weeks if they've got
any of the other worrying signs such as losing weight, coughing up blood or
pain in the chest, that they really do come forward for help.
'We know that people are reluctant to seek
help, they're worried about putting more of a stress on the NHS, but it is very
important that we catch lung cancer early because if we do catch it early
that's when we have a really good chance of curing it – if we find it at the
earliest stage, more than half of people can actually be cured with something
like an operation.
'But if it's spread around the body when we
first catch it then less than 5 per cent of people are alive five years later.'
When asked whether he could identify how many
cases have been missed, he said: 'It's about three quarters of the numbers that
we would expect to have seen being referred.
'And so that's probably a few thousand people
over the course of the pandemic that we haven't seen that we would expect to.
'There isn't a big waiting list or difficulty
in getting investigations done.
'The main problem is we just haven't been
seeing people because they've been keeping it to themselves.'
The NHS chief's warning is the latest in a
string of experts who are worried about a delayed time-bomb of cancer cases
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
World Health Organization's Europe director,
Dr Hans Kluge, said this month that Covid has had a 'catastrophic' impact
on cancer treatments and 'a crisis is brewing'.
Millions of people across Europe saw their
scans or treatment delayed because of lockdowns put in place to control
the coronavirus pandemic
in 2020.
As a result, many will start treatment later
when their disease is more advanced and harder to treat, meaning they are more
likely to die from it or be left disabled.
Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director
for Europe, said: 'Due to travel restrictions and the enormous strain on health
systems of fighting Covid-19, cancer services have been disrupted across the
entire region, significantly delaying diagnosis and treatment, directly
impacting the chances of a cure or survival for hundreds of thousands of cancer
patients.'
He added: 'Delayed diagnosis and treatment in
the United Kingdom are expected to result in an increase in the number of
deaths from colorectal [bowel] cancer by 15 per cent, and 9 per cent for breast
cancer over the next 5 years.
'A crisis of noncommunicable diseases,
including cancer, is brewing, brought on by the
pandemic.'
Dr Kluge's comments echo concerns raised last
year by cancer charities in the UK, who said shutting out patients in the
spring would lead to a cancer time-bomb.
Except for urgent appointments and emergency
treatment, many hospital services were shut down in 2020's first lockdown in
preparation for a surge in Covid patients.
It took months for the NHS to get back on its
feet and, during that time, the number of people waiting for routine operations
surged to a record 4.46million.
Macmillan Cancer Support has been sounding
the alarm for months that hundreds of thousands fewer appointments to discuss
suspected cancer have happened during the pandemic, meaning growing numbers of
people are living undiagnosed.
Macmillan said in January that the number of
people who saw a cancer specialist doctor between March and November 2020 was
350,000 fewer than during the same period in 2019, a drop of 19 per cent.
The number of people starting treatment for
cancer is also still significantly lower than average.
Head of policy at the charity, Sara
Bainbridge, said: 'It is critical cancer does not become the "Forgotten
C" in this pandemic.
'We must see Government action to ensure
cancer services are protected through winter and this second wave.'
The NHS's campaign to encourage people to
come forward is being backed by ex-England cricket captain Sir Andrew Strauss,
whose wife Ruth died from a rare form of lung cancer aged 46 in 2018.
Sir Andrew said: 'Lung cancer is a risk for
everyone – Ruth had never smoked a cigarette in her life and was unbelievably
fit and healthy.
'It's so important that if you notice any
loved ones showing symptoms that could be a sign of cancer that you encourage
them to contact their GP practice.'
Retired paramedic, 48,
who was denied face-to-face appointment with his GP because of Covid pandemic
is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer
Steve McGregor, 48, started having
difficulties breathing last March and tried to get a face-to-face appointment
at Trinity Medical Centre in Blythe Bridge, Stoke-on-Trent.
But restrictions on appointments because of
the pandemic meant he had to wait until May to get an X-ray and phone
consultation where he was told there were no issues.
Unconvinced of their findings because of
his background in healthcare, he finally got a scan at Stafford's County
Hospital in November, when he was told he had inoperable, terminal lung
cancer.
+5
·
Steve McGregor, 48, started having difficulties breathing last March and tried to get a face-to-face appointment at Trinity Medical Centre in Blythe Bridge, Stoke-on-TrentMr McGregor, who worked for West Midlands Ambulance Service, now believes the cancer could have been operable had it been detected sooner.
The father-of-one said: 'I noticed changes
in my breathing which were quite concerning. I felt like I couldn't inflate the
upper left lung. I felt like I couldn't oxygenate effectively.
'I was concerned I may suffer hypoxia in
the night. I did say that I had a concern that I may stop breathing.'
But Mr McGregor claims his GP refused to
see or refer him for eight months despite making 20 phone calls to the surgery.
He was however able to get a face-to-face
GP appointment following the scan at Stafford Hospital.
'I have now been diagnosed with an
inoperable lung cancer, I have never smoked and have been fit and well, I am
only 48 years old,' he added.
When approached, his GP Dr Bhalchandra
Narayan Kulkarni said: 'For reasons of patient confidentiality the practice is
unable to discuss any aspects of patient care.'
West Midlands Ambulance Service were also
contacted for comment.
Malachy Watkins, 73, from Stevenage, died
in September last year after his cancer treatment, which should have restarted
in March, was delayed for three months.
Mr Watkins had successful treatment in 2019
which had shrunk his tumours and he had been on a schedule of three-monthly
check-ups before the pandemic struck.
In February, he was given the news his
cancer had returned but medics decided that because of the coronavirus
situation it would be too risky to restart treatment.
Mr Watkins did finally start treatment at
the end of May but had already started to become unwell.
He had pain in his chest and back and ended
up with a collapsed lung. He started chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatment
at Lister Hospital, in Stevenage, but his weakened body could not cope and so
the interventions had to stop.
In
February, Mr Watkins was given the news his cancer had returned after
successful treatment last year, but medics decided that because of the coronavirus
situation it would be too risky to restart treatment. Pictured: He was treated
at Lister Hospital in Stevenage
His wife wife Sheila, 71, believes
that if treatment had started when it was originally due to - at the start of
February - her husband was then 'well in himself' and would have been able to
tolerate it more.
She was also unable to go into hospital
with her husband for appointments, even though he had lost his voice .
When Mr Watkins was admitted to hospital
for the final time, in September, and was gravely ill, his and his wife's
children were not allowed to visit them until very late.
Their adult son Craig told The Times that
by the time he got onto his father's ward - after being forced to complete a
risk assessment - he was taking his 'final breaths'.
He said he and his sister had no time with
him in his final moments.
Mrs Watkins said she does not want the NHS
to 'forgo everything else for the sake of coronavirus.'
Nick Carver, chief executive at East and
North Hertfordshire NHS Trust which runs Lister Hospital, said: 'We offer our
sincere condolences to Mr Watkins' loved ones at this incredibly sad time.
'Cancer treatment continued throughout the
pandemic for all patients for who it was safe to do so, and we have worked in
partnership with the independent sector to maintain high levels of activity in
line with all national guidance.
'The pandemic has been a global health
challenge and we have had to work very differently to keep patients, staff and
visitors as safe as possible.'
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