Shock rise in cancer death if treatment delayed

A FOUR-WEEK delay in cancer treatment increases the chance of dying by up to 13 per cent, research reveals.

The study, published online for the BMJ, was put together in the light of delays resulting from the pandemic.

It has led to calls for more attention to other deadly health conditions whose treatment, doctors say, is being put at risk by measures to contain the virus.

The study, carried out by UK and Canadian researchers, assessed the impact of cancer delays using data from 1.2 million patients.

It looked at 34 different studies and including seven different cancers – breast, head and neck, colon, rectum, lung, cervical, and bladder.

It assessed delays to treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy as well as delays to surgery. Overall, a four-week delay to treatment increased the chance of dying by up to 13 per cent.

An eight-week delay in breast cancer surgery was linked to a 17 percent increase in death rates increasing to 26 per cent over a 12 weeks and associated with 1,400 unnecessary or extra breast cancer deaths in the UK.

The authors want the study to guide policy making on the organisation of cancer services as the pandemic continues and further delays are expected. Professor Richard Sullivan, of the Institute of Cancer Policy, King’s College London, said: “The results of this study are both staggering and sobering. No delay is safe. We now need to count the previously invisible cost of Covid-19 on people with cancer.

“The focus has up to now been on deaths caused by Covid-19 but there has been little attention paid to the indirect impact on other significant health conditions caused by the lockdowns which are linked to huge delays in diagnosis and treatment.

“The pandemic’s impact on cancer care and outcomes will be felt long after the virus reaches global equilibrium.”

Previous studies have estimated delays to cancer diagnosis caused by the pandemic could cause up to 35,000 extra deaths.

Since the lockdown in March there have been widespread delays to cancer surgery and patients have missed potentially life-saving therapies because tackling Covid-19 became the focus of the health service.

Scientists are working out the scale of this disruption. Recent research shows almost 2.5million people missed cancer screening, referrals or treatment at the height of lockdown.

A NHS spokesman said: “A separate study found any brief pause in treatment would have a very modest impact.”