The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Study: Cancer tests deferred during virus surge
DANBURY — The number of patients getting screened for cancer during the coronavirus surge dropped 38 percent for one of the state’s largest health networks.
“COVID has had a huge negative impact on patient screening for cancer,” said Dr. Margo Shoup, a surgical oncologist and senior vice president and system chairwoman of the Nuvance Health Cancer Institute. “We are definitely now seeing more people with advanced cases of cancer than we would have had they come in
a few months earlier.”
As a result, patients who put off colonoscopies and mammograms in the spring because of surging coronavirus cases are being encouraged to get tested, even if it creates a backlog for hospitals in Danbury, Norwalk and New Milford run by Nuvance.
“It’s heartbreaking to see people who were symptomatic for three months delaying treatment,” Shoup said.
The dramatic drop in cancer screenings from March through May for Nuvance hospitals in Danbury, Norwalk and New Milford is mirrored in a nationwide study that found a larger 46 percent decrease in screenings for six major cancers during the height of the coronavirus crisis.
The nationwide study, published last week in the peer-reviewed journal, JAMA Network Open, said the drop started when hospitals started clearing the deck to treat coronavirus patients,
and continued as the public developed the misconception that there was a higher COVID-19 infection risk if they went to the hospital.
“While residents have taken to social distancing, cancer does not pause,” the study’s authors wrote. “The delay in diagnosis will likely lead to presentation at more advanced stages and poorer clinical outcomes.”
This is not the first time Connecticut hospitals have been concerned about patients foregoing treatment for serious ailments because of COVID-19.
In mid-May, physicians at Nuvance and Yale New Haven Health sounded the alarm about a 39 percent drop in stroke victims seeking immediate hospital help, out of concern for contracting the coronavirus.
On Thursday, physicians at Yale New Haven Health and Stamford Health were not immediately available to comment on the drop in cancer screenings. Both networks, along with Nuvance, have been trying to get the message out to patients since May not to delay hospital care.
“This is really one of the safest times to come to the hospital, because of all the precautions that are in place,” said Amy Forni, a Nuvance spokeswoman.
In June and July, as Connecticut and nearby New York have reopened much of what was closed and kept infection rates relatively low, more patients have been coming to Nuvance hospitals here and in New York for cancer screenings, Nuvance said.
Noting that early detection is a key tool in fighting cancer, Shoup encouraged people who put off cancer screenings in the spring to make an appointment.
“We are starting to turn the corner but not as much as we would like,” Shoup said.
Shoup added that wait times for appointments might be longer as hospitals work through a backlog of delayed screenings.
“Make that appointment so it’s on your calendar,” Shoup said. “Your life could depend on it, honestly.”