New Study Shows COVID-19 Delays Can Be Devastating For People Facing Cancer
- New research has confirms that delays in cancer treatment and screenings result in worse outcomes for people facing the disease when they are later diagnosed.
- People facing colon and lung cancer were the most likely to suffer worse outcomes due to delays, with even two-month-delays causing researchers to predict 10% more mortalities over five and ten years.
- If you’re fighting cancer, it’s crucial to always advocate for yourself and push for the best possible care regardless of the pandemic.
Delays in cancer treatments and screening caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could be devastating to long-term survival rates: for each 60 days of delay, long-term survival falls dramatically, according to new research published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Read More60 Days Delay Can be Life or Death
According to researchers, for people fighting colon, prostate, breast, and lung cancer, delays as short as 60 days can still significantly affect the odds of survival. The study was conducted in the first months of 2020, right as the pandemic began, and concluded that current guidelines could leave millions of people fighting cancer at greater risk for worse outcomes.Related: It’s Important to Continue Cancer Screenings Through COVID-19
“These findings emphasize the importance of timely cancer treatment, and, in contrast to current pandemic-related guidelines, support more prompt definitive treatment for intermediate-risk and high-risk prostate cancer,” said Dr. Eugene Cone of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the study’s lead author.
People facing colon and lung cancer were the most likely to suffer worse outcomes due to delays, with even two-month-delays causing researchers to predict 10% more mortalities over five and ten years.
The findings confirm what many of the nation’s leading cancer doctors have been warning since March: delaying cancer care will have huge consequences long after the pandemic ends.
Cancer Patients & COVID-19 When to Stay Home and When to Go in to Your Doctor
COVID-19 Delaying Cancer Treatments
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, hospitals around the country were forced to delay some cancer screenings and surgeries to treat those infected with the virus. As the situation worsened and virus cases continued to shoot up, many were forced to outright cancel these procedures until an indefinite time in the future.
A survey by the American Cancer Society found that 79% of people facing cancer experienced delays in care, with 15% saying that their chemotherapy, radiation, or hormone therapies were affected. Screening and preventative treatments dropped by nearly 70%, with cities like New York particularly affected.
"When we start opening the gates up and screening people again, those people will come in, [and] we're actually going to screen a lot more people in that first couple of months than we normally do," Dr. Otis Brawley, a medical oncologist and epidemiologist at John Hopkins University, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview.
“Because we're screening more people then, we're going to diagnose more cancer. The clearing out of the prevalences is simply the people who would have been diagnosed during the period of no screening [that] are diagnosed when we start screening again.”
It's Important To Continue Cancer Screenings Through COVID-19
Advocate for Yourself
Whether your cancer treatments and screenings are continuing as planned or have been delayed due to COVID-19, it’s incredibly important to be your own advocate. Fighting cancer is a life-and-death battle, and you have every right to demand the best possible care – even during a pandemic.
"Ask for priority scheduling," Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, former chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, previously told SurvivorNet. "As we start to open up, it's a concern that those with risk factors get priority we need to make sure that people who may not have as loud a voice are protected."
While some cancer procedures might be delayed, essential procedures are still being carried out all across the country. Knowing whether your cancer requires immediate treatment could be the difference between life and death.
Be Pushy, Be Your Own Advocate… Don't Settle
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