A WIPH-led review of the international effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer prevention finds that prevention services were severely affected in the early months, and in some places are still recovering. Some specific screening service responses to the possible impending crisis in cancer cases may have begun to turn the tide.
The study looked at vaccination, chemoprevention, and surgical cancer prevention programmes, and at screening services for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers. It also examined how lifestyle changes (smoking, alcohol, and weight) due to the pandemic will affect future cancer rates, as large numbers of additional cancers or additional late stage cancers have been predicted for the future as a result of the disruption.
Researchers conclude that how many additional predicted cancer deaths can still be avoided will depend on service recovery, but they note that colorectal screening programmes in several countries were swift to return to pre-pandemic activity, and that the UK NHS Breast Cancer Screening Programme is now screening 150,000 more women and detecting in excess of 3000 more cancers per year than in the pre-pandemic period.
Lead author Professor Stephen Duffy said:
A price will be, and is already being paid for pandemic disruption to cancer prevention and screening services, with higher incidence of some cancers, and later diagnosis and poorer survival for others, but the answer is obvious: Bring the services back to equal or higher activity levels than pre-pandemic as quickly as possible. The pandemic caused a worsening of inequalities in delivery of cancer screening services, with communities underserved by healthcare provision often the hardest hit, and providers have a duty to address the inequalities in cancer during the recovery.
Duffy SW, de Jonge L, Duffy TE. Effects on Cancer Prevention from the COVID-19 Pandemic. AnnuRev Med. 2023 Aug 25. doi: 10.1146/annurev-med-051022-122257. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37625124