UK faces ‘ticking time bomb’ in missing cancer cases, study claims

UK faces ‘ticking time bomb’ in missing cancer cases, study claims

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The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has led to less urgent referrals to cancer in England, meaning cases can be caught too late and could lead to a decline in survival rates, according to a report.

A study of NHS England data by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that GPs made 1.85 million urgent cancer referrals between March 2020, around the first closure, and January 2021. Compared to 2.2 million referrals made in in the same period last year, that is a decrease of 16 percent or about 350 000 people.

The proportion of cancers diagnosed at the time when they were still very curable also dropped from 44 percent to 41 percent, according to a Times reported from Sunday.

During the period, urgent referrals for suspected lung cancer, the most deadly form of cancer, dropped by 34 percent – about 20,300 patients. There was a 23 percent drop in reference to brain cancer (2,200 less). Referrals to childhood cancer patients also decreased by more than one-fifth (21 percent or 2,000 children).

According to senior research fellow Chris Thomas of the IPPR, the decline in cancer referrals since the start of the pandemic has’ created a ticking time bomb for missed cancer cases and a decade of disruption to health services, unless urgent action is taken. ‘.

The research suggests that thousands more could die as a result of the upheaval caused by the Chinese virus.

Surgeries and chemotherapy and radiology treatments were also canceled or delayed during the pandemic, with 44,000 fewer patients diagnosed with cancer starting between April last year and January this year, compared to the same period last year.

Reports from December revealed that 4.4 million scandals were missed between April and September 2020, some of which could have been life-saving.

In January 2021, the president of the Royal College of Surgeons, Professor Neil Mortensen, warned that hospitals should cancel or postpone cancer surgery because there is simply no ability to manage it.

“I think if you have a delayed operation for cancer that could have an effect,” Prof Mortensen remarked, predicting that it could take until the summer before you return to normal and clear up the backlog of cases.

However, the backlog is so large that the IPPR and charities have warned that the government will give the NHS a boost of £ 6.6 billion over the next six months, according to Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK, according to The times: “The NHS will have to work above pre-pandemic levels and get the right investment to remove the backlog to ensure people have the tests and treatment they need.”

Last month it was reported that due to the closure measures that caused the closure of dental practices, a wave of oral cancer was caught in later stages because dentists could not detect signs of the diseases earlier.

“Anecdotally, patients are now getting more advanced oral cancer, which means the tumors are larger and surgery is more complicated,” said Matthew Garrett of the Royal College of Surgeons.

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