Prostate cancer clinics hardest hit by Covid disruption

In April last, just 17 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer compared to 104 men in the same month the previous year. File picture

Rapid access clinics to diagnose prostate cancer were hardest hit by the disruption to health services in the initial wave of the Covid-19 pandemic 10 months ago.

New research examining the impact of the pandemic on cancer services has found that fewer people were referred to or attended rapid access clinics for breast, lung and prostate cancers as the virus took hold in March last year.

As a consequence, fewer people were diagnosed with one of these cancers between March, April and May when numbers were down by 23% or more than 400 cancers compared to the same period in 2019.

In the month of April alone, just 243 cancers were diagnosed across the breast, lung, and prostate clinics, representing half of those diagnosed in the previous year (471).

While the number of patients being diagnosed with cancer showed signs of returning to ‘near normal’ levels in the second half of the year, overall numbers were down 11% by August compared to the same period in 2019.

Rapid access clinics to detect prostate cancer were hardest hit, followed by breast and then lung cancer clinics, the researchers found.

In April last, just 17 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer compared to 104 men in the same month the previous year. Between January and August last year, the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer was down by 33% on the previous year.

While the number of breast cancers diagnosed was down in March, April and May, numbers showed signs of recovering from June onwards and were close to levels recorded in 2019 (98%).

A similar pattern was observed when researchers analysed the number of lung cancers detected, which were down by 5% on 2019 levels by August last.

“Although the number of cases diagnosed has recovered considerably, cases have not yet matched 2019 figures,” the researchers said.

“Overall, the large number of missing diagnoses is worrying,” the authors said, pointing out that delays in diagnosis could lead to cancer being diagnosed at a later stage of the disease, when it is more aggressive and harder to treat.

The research was carried out by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), and the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, among other health agencies.

The fall in referrals, attendances, and cancers diagnosed was “significant”, meaning “intensive efforts” will be required to ensure timely access to services, the researchers said.

They also cautioned that the data analysed was an “underestimate” of the overall impact on cancer services as the breast, lung and prostate clinics only represented 21% of all cancers diagnosed in any given year.

Given the unknown duration and impact of the pandemic, the authors said “it cannot be assumed that the fall in numbers experienced in the Spring of 2020 will not be repeated”.