Early-stage cancer diagnoses decreased sharply in the US during first year of COVID-19 pandemichttps://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-early-stage-cancer-decreased-sharply-year.htmlA new study from researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) found monthly adult cancer diagnoses decreased by half in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The largest decrease was for stage I cancers, resulting in a higher proportion of late-stage diagnoses. The study is the most comprehensive research to date about the effects of the first year of the pandemic on cancer diagnoses and stage in the nation. The paper was published in the journal Lancet Oncology.
"During the emergence of the pandemic, we know health care was disrupted in the U.S. and steep declines were reported for cancer screening services," said Dr. Xuesong Han, lead author of the study and scientific director of health services research at the American Cancer Society.
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For this study, using the latest national registry data, researchers identified a total of 2,404,050 adults newly diagnosed with cancer, including 830,528 in 2018, 849,290 in 2019, and 724,232 in 2020. The number of diagnoses for all stages decreased substantially following the COVID-19 emergence in the U.S. in March 2020, though monthly counts returned to near pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020.
The decrease was largest for stage I diagnoses, leading to higher odds of late-stage diagnoses in 2020 vs. 2019. The pattern was seen in most cancer types and sociodemographic groups, though it was most prominent among individuals who have historically experienced barriers in accessing health care, including individuals who are Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander, uninsured, and living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas.
Disrupted is a euphemism meaning
shut down. Fewer early diagnoses results in diagnoses in more advanced stages, more invasive treatments, and lower survival - IOW, increased cancer deaths.
