The COVID-19 pandemic has caused collateral damage in the diagnosis and surgery of cancer patients. In This studio carried out by scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, the consequences of a delay of 3 months or 6 months in these diagnoses and surgeries are analyzed and its impact measured in lives and years of life lost.
New models have revealed the extent of the impact that disruption in the cancer care and diagnosis pathway could have on the survival of cancer patients.
More than 10,000 lives
Many cancer patients may end up experiencing delays of several months in their cancer treatment in the context of the pandemic, including operations to remove tumors.
So, The delay of 3/6 months would have caused respectively 4,755/10,760 deaths and 92,214/208,275 years of life lost.
The study estimated that cancer surgery provides an average of 18.1 years of life per patient, of which an average of 1 year is lost due to a delay of three months or 2.2 years are lost due to a delay of six months. months. Considering the healthcare resource more broadly, they compared this to hospital treatment for COVID-19, from which an average of 5.1 years of life per patient was currently obtained.
According to Explain the leader of the study, Clare Turnbull, professor of Cancer Genomics at the ICR:
The Covid-19 crisis has put enormous pressure on the NHS at every stage of the cancer pathway, from diagnosis to surgery and other forms of treatment. Our study shows the impact that delaying cancer treatment will have on patients, with England and the UK more broadly potentially set for many thousands of attributable cancer deaths as a result of the pandemic.
Thousands of deaths from cancer, in addition to many others from various diseases, or even lack of food, such as abounds in it Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias in The Conversation:
It has been estimated that during the next six months, between 253,500 and 1,157,000 boys and girls under five years of age, and between 12,200 and 56,700 mothers in developing countries will die due to the deterioration of health systems and possibilities of getting food.
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The news
Collateral damage from COVID-19 could be causing thousands of cancer deaths
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Xataka Science
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Sergio Parra
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