Cancer Diagnoses Drop Almost 50% During Coronavirus Pandemic

Aug 4, 2020,11:02am EDT Victoria Forster Contributor Healthcare Cancer research scientist and childhood cancer survivor.

A new study has indicated that the number of new cancer diagnoses reduced dramatically in March and April of this year in the U.S. as the country implemented lock down restrictions to attempt to slow the spread of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus.

The work published today in JAMA Network Open looked at medical diagnostic records to find out the weekly average number of patients diagnosed with 6 types of cancer, including lung, breast and colorectal cancer, both before and after the pandemic hit. In their data set, before the pandemic, the average number of weekly cancer diagnoses was 4,310. During the pandemic from the beginning of March to mid-April, this average weekly number fell a huge 46.6% to just 2,310 new diagnoses.

“This report demonstrates that our initial response to the pandemic of limiting so-called elective screening and diagnostic tests has consequences,” said Craig Bunnell, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Chief Medical Officer. “The true incidence of these cancers did not drop. The decline clearly represents a delay in making the diagnoses, and delays matter with cancer,” Bunnell added. 

The U.S. is not the only country which has experienced a drop in cancer diagnoses. The U.K. has also reported a 75% decrease in referrals from primary care providers to specialist cancer screening and the Netherlands has reported a 40% decrease in weekly incidence.

Late diagnosis of cancers is an incredibly worrying side-effect of the pandemic where the impact may be felt for several years.

“While residents have taken to social distancing, cancer does not pause. The delay in diagnosis will likely lead to presentation at more advanced stages and poorer clinical outcomes,” said the study authors in their paper.

One pre-print study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, predicts that the U.S. may see over 33,000 excess cancer deaths due to several factors related to the pandemic, including delays in diagnosis and care. But physicians are keen to stress that for symptoms that cannot wait such as anything which might indicate cancer, people must not hesitate to seek medical care, despite the pandemic.

“We need to safely perform these diagnostic tests and the public needs to not think of them as optional. Their lives could depend on them,” said Bunnell.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2020/08/04/cancer-diagnoses-drop-almost-50-during-coronavirus-pandemic/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_term=baylor+scott+%26+white+health&utm_content=0ddb3f33-0d3a-4ab0-8376-97d7613c4907&utm_campaign=Hootsuite&utm_medium=social#5c32ce0e7053