During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts in the United States expressed concerns that disruptions in cancer diagnosis and treatment were causing death.
A new study confirms that they were right.
The study, funded by the federal government and published in the medical journal JAMA Oncology on Thursday, is the first assessment of the impact of pandemic-related disruptions on cancer patients’ short-term survival chances.
The researchers found that people who were diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and 2021 had worse short-term survival chances compared to those who were diagnosed between 2015 and 2019.
This has been observed among all cancer patients, regardless of whether their cases were diagnosed at a late or early stage.
Of course, Covid-19 posed a significant risk to patients already weakened by cancer, but the researchers excluded deaths that were primarily caused by the coronavirus, to determine whether other factors may have played a role.
The study’s lead author, Todd Burruss of the University of Kentucky, said researchers were unable to conclusively prove the cause of the worsening deaths.
But disruptions to the health care system were likely a major contributor, said Burruss, who specializes in medical data analysis.
COVID-19 has forced many women to postpone cancer screenings, such as colonoscopies, mammograms, and lung exams, as coronavirus cases flood doctors and hospitals, especially in 2020.
Previous research has shown that overall cancer death rates in the United States have continued to decline throughout the pandemic, and there have been no significant changes in late diagnoses.
