Coronavirus fears led to dramatic drop in cancer diagnoses

The diagnosis and treatment of three of the most common cancers plummeted with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a review has found.

The diagnosis and treatment of three of the most common cancers plummeted with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a review of Medicare data by Cancer Australia has found.

Concerned that people were delaying medical screening and treatment, Cancer Australia commissioned the study, which found large drops in the number of diagnostic and therapeutic services for breast, colorectal and skin cancers.

Colorectal investigations performed in April were about half those undertaken in March. Other investigations including imaging procedures for detection of breast cancer also showed decreases of more than two-thirds between March and April. Surgical procedures to remove breast and skin cancers were also well down on pre-pandemic levels.

“This is the first analysis of the national data looking at what happened in cancer diagnostics in the early months of the pandemic,” said Cancer Australia chief Dorothy Keefe.

“I don’t think it’s just that patients are delaying seeing their doctor. During the acute phase of the pandemic, everyone was worried the hospital system would be overwhelmed by COVID patients, so there was a reluctance on the part of patients to go and see doctors.

“(And) there was a reluctance on behalf of hospitals … to be looking at things other than high-acuity COVID problems … it was a natural, absolutely correct response to reduce some forms of investigation at that stage, but we need to get over that.”

Cancer Australia has launched a social media campaign, Cancer Won’t Wait, encouraging people who notice new or persistent symptoms that could be cancer to see a doctor without delay.