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It’s Time to Schedule Your Routine Cancer Screening
A guide for all adults, as doctors worry about undiagnosed cases amid a pandemic pullback
Experts fear thousands of Americans could die of cancer unnecessarily over the next several years because of a drastic reduction in routine screenings and diagnoses during the pandemic, as hospitals halted nonemergency services and people continue to worry about catching the coronavirus in a doctor’s office. Countless more people, assumed to have already developed undiagnosed cancer, will face more invasive treatments and longer recoveries than if the disease had been detected early on.
Screening for breast, colon, and cervical cancers plummeted around 90% early this year compared to previous years, and were still about one-third lower than normal as of mid-June, according to research by the Epic Health Research Network involving 190 hospitals in 23 states. From January 1 to April 18, diagnoses were 51.8% lower for breast cancer and 24.7% lower for pancreatic cancer compared to the same time period last year, based on a study of nationwide data from one diagnostics firm. The decrease owes to fewer screenings being done, not an actual reduction in new cancers developing.
“There is a real concern about delays in screening leading to delays in diagnosis, which…
