BALTIMORE – Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, significant declines in cancer diagnoses occurred. But what happened from the end of 2020, the first year, and after widespread vaccination occurred?
A new study in the Annals of Surgical Oncology reported that disruptions in new diagnoses of four common cancers—prostate, lung, bladder and colorectal—seen early in the COVID-19 pandemic, persisted for two years.1
“Although reductions improved from the early pandemic, new reductions during the Delta and Omicron waves demonstrate the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care,” wrote the researchers from the University of Maryland, the Baltimore VAMC and colleagues.
The study analyzed VHA data from Jan. 1, 2018, through Feb. 28, 2022, and identified patients with screening or diagnostic procedures or new cancer diagnoses for the four most common cancers in the VA health system: prostate, lung, colorectal and bladder cancers.
Researchers calculated monthly procedures and new diagnoses, comparing the pre-COVID era (January 2018 to February 2020) to the COVID era (March 2020 to February 2022).
About 2.5 million patients who underwent a diagnostic or screening procedure related to the four cancers were identified, with a new cancer diagnosed for 317,833 of them.
During the first 2 years of the pandemic, according to the authors. VAMCs performed 13,022 fewer prostate biopsies, 32,348 fewer cystoscopies and 200,710 fewer colonoscopies than in 2018-2019.
“These persistent deficits added a cumulative deficit of nearly 19,000 undiagnosed prostate cancers and 3,300 to 3,700 undiagnosed cancers each for lung, colon, and bladder,” according to the study. “Decreased diagnostic and screening procedures correlated with decreased new diagnoses of cancer, particularly cancer of the prostate (R = 0.44) and bladder (R = 0.27).”
- Englum BR, Sahoo S, Mayorga-Carlin M, Hayssen H, Siddiqui T, Turner DJ, Sorkin JD, Lal BK. Growing Deficit in New Cancer Diagnoses 2 Years Into the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Multicenter Study. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Sep 11. doi: 10.1245/s10434-023-14217-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37695458.