Study has shown that thousands will die from lung cancer due to the Government’s advice to people to remain at home and not to have a cold during the pandemic.
Covid, according to UK Lung Cancer Coalition (UKLCC), has caused decades worth of survival improvements to be reversed by delays in diagnosing.
The number of urgent referrals by GPs to treat lung cancer has fallen by one-third in the first year after the pandemic. This means that thousands are not getting life-saving treatment.
Lung cancer patients were disproportionately affected by the pandemic because a key symptom is coughing — and Government advice said people with a cough must self-isolate.
Study has shown that thousands will die from lung cancer due to the Government’s advice to people living with coughs during the pandemic. Graph showing: Changes in the number of lung-cancer referrals received from GPs.
Figure 1: The UK’s 2017 Cancer Statistics.
The delays, according to the coalition will result in a drop of five percent in survival rates which could cause more than 2,500 additional deaths annually.
Lung cancer, which kills around 35,000 people each year, is the most deadly form of cancer in Britain.
If lung cancer is diagnosed early when it is more treatable, 57 per cent will survive — compared to just three per cent of people diagnosed at the latest stage.
UKLCC believes that due to the large number of cancer survivors, it will drop from 17.6 percent before the pandemic down to 12.3 percent now.
Professor Robert Rintoul, chair of the UKLCC’s clinical advisory group, said: ‘Prior to the pandemic, real progress was being made in raising five-year survival rates.
‘But Covid has had a devastating impact on early diagnosis of lung cancer and has compromised our target of driving up five-year UK survival to 25 per cent by 2025.
‘Lung cancer patients have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
‘Government guidance to stay at home with a cough, reluctance to engage with healthcare services during lockdown, and pressures on already over-burdened health services have inevitably resulted in a fall in referrals and increase in late-stage presentations of the disease.
‘We need to take urgent action to get back on track.’
UKLCC has recommended a nationwide screening program across the UK, as well as two-yearly public awareness campaigns linking to a designated lung cancer helpline.
According to NHS statistics, cancer referrals have plummeted in the wake of the pandemic. Waiting times are also at an all-time high.
Charities have warned the pandemic will lead to the ‘the worst cancer crisis in a generation’ and cause thousands of avoidable deaths.