When the pandemic hit the U.S. in early 2020, many normal activities ceased.
The same thing happened with visiting doctors – regular check-ups and screening for many health conditions.
A recent study led by researchers from the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center shows the impact of the disease on lung cancer screening, which experts say could be bad for all screening programs in general and for the overall well-being of patients. The article appears on the website Journal of the American College of Surgeons before printing.
Robert Van Haren, MD, professor of surgery at UC, UC Health thoracic surgeon and corresponding author of the study, says CT scans of low-dose radiation have been shown to detect lung cancer earlier. He says lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., but if detected early, treatment rates are as high as 90%. UC created the region’s first lung cancer screening program, Van Haren adds.
CT scans combine a series of X-ray images taken from different angles around the body and then use computer processing to create images of “chips” of the bones, blood vessels and soft cigarettes. inside the body. These images provide more detailed information than simple X-rays do.
Van Haren explains that, as with many programs, COVID-19 pandemic caused a shutdown for the lung cancer screening program, but researchers wanted to know what effect had a shutdown in total numbers of patients screened in addition to cancer studies.
He says that, nationally, studies for many conditions, such as appendicitis, heart attack and stroke, have decreased during the pandemic and evidence from the United Kingdom has shown a nearly 5% increase in lung cancer deaths such as resulting in delayed diagnosis during the pandemic.
The team used a database of patient information and outcomes to compare monthly average screens between January 2017 and February 2020 compared to the COVID-19 shutdown period between March 2020 and July 2020.
When CT scans of low-dose radiation were stopped on 13 March 2020, 818 screening visits were canceled. We started to gradually reopen on May 5th and then reopened completely to June 1st. Total monthly CT scans and monthly patient scans decreased significantly in the COVID-19 period we analyzed, and new patient scans have remained low despite the resumption of full operations.
What is most worrying is that we found that patients with lung nodules, or suspicious areas in the lungs that may have cancer, enlarged after we reopened. This means that if the closure had never happened, we could have identified and dealt with issues earlier. “
Robert Van Haren, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, UC
Van Haren adds that it is sometimes difficult to find patients who are eligible for lung cancer screening to take part in the first place. To be eligible, patients must be 55 to 80 years of age and have smoked at least one packet of cigarettes per day for 30 years or two packs of cigarettes per day for 15 years.
“Lung cancer screening has been agreed in the last few years, and a large number of eligible patients are not already getting screening. So, when we had to cancel new patient appointments, we lost momentum for some of those patients who could benefit from lung cancer screening, “he says.
“COVID-19 caused severe concern in lung cancer screening, leading to a decrease in newly screened patients and a greater proportion of suspicious nodules once screening was resumed,” he said. Using the lung cancer and our screening program as a model, this early analysis demonstrates the outcomes associated with the pandemic for both screening and cancer care programs. Hopefully it can provide some insight into how we approach operations as the pandemic continues. “