Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cancer Diagnosis

A new analysis uncovers significant deficits in cancer diagnostic procedures and subsequent new diagnoses.

Restrictions in access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to cause new cancer diagnoses to be delayed, a situation that could lead to worse prognoses for patients. The findings are published in the CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Researchers examined data from more than 9 million US veterans at 1,244 VA medical facilities. From 2018 through 2020, there were 3.9 million procedures used to diagnose cancer and 251,647 new cancers diagnosed.

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‘Colonoscopy done to detect colorectal cancer had the largest deficits in 2020 compared with earlier years.’

They found that procedures to diagnose cancer were used less frequently in 2020. There were also fewer new diagnoses of cancer in 2020. These deficits varied by geographic location and by cancer type.

Colonoscopies (to detect colorectal cancer) in 2020 decreased by 45% compared with annual averages in 2018 through 2019, whereas prostate biopsies (to detect prostate cancer), chest computed tomography scans (to detect lung cancer), and cystoscopies (to detect bladder cancer) decreased by 29%, 10%, and 21%, respectively.

New cancer diagnoses in 2020 decreased by 13% to 23%, depending on the cancer type.

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Researchers then created a chart that institutions, health systems, and states can use to determine the time and resources needed to increase diagnostic procedures to recover from the backlog created by the pandemic.

“The disruption in non-emergency health care during the peak of the pandemic was intentional and necessary,” said Dr. Lal, MD, of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Maryland Health Care System and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

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In the COVID-19 recovery phase, this study findings will help physicians, hospitals, and health care organizations anticipate the extent to which they have fallen behind in their efforts to diagnose new cancers. It will also help them allocate requisite resources and time to re-engage with patients.

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Source-Medindia