Cancer screening declined 39% globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published Jan. 2 in Nature.
For the study, international researchers reviewed 245 academic articles from 46 countries to analyze the scale of COVID-19's disruption on cancer care.
Here are four notes from their analysis:
- In addition to the 39% decline in cancer screening, diagnostic procedures declined by 24% and cancer diagnoses declined by 23% compared to prepandemic levels.
- Cancer treatment declined by 28% overall, with a 15% decline in radiotherapy treatment and a 35% decline in systemic treatment, compared to prepandemic levels.
- Countries with high and very high human-development indexes experienced fewer cancer care reductions compared to countries with medium human-development indexes, while cancer care data from countries with low human-development indexes were "missing," study authors wrote.
- A different, recent study analyzed how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced cancer incidence rates. Between January 2020 and December 2021, the cancer incidence rate in the U.S. was 6% lower than expected, equating to 149,577 potentially missed diagnoses.
Read the full study here.