THOUSANDS are at risk of dying from bowel cancer as the number of people being diagnosed has fallen since the first Covid lockdown.
More than 3,500 fewer patients than expected were diagnosed with the disease between April and October 2020, new research shows.
The study, by the University of Oxford, suggests that many people whose cancer diagnosis has yet to be made may die unnecessarily.
Fewer than one in ten people survive bowel cancer if it’s picked up at stage 4, but detected quickly, more than nine in ten patients will live five years or longer.
Early diagnosis is key, which is why Trending In The News launched the No Time 2 Lose campaign – to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of the disease, to empower everyone to check themselves.
But the new research shows that the number of GP referrals for bowel cancer has fallen sharply – leaving thousands in the dark.
REFERRALS FALL
Compared with an average month in 2019, during the peak of the first Covid wave in April 2020, the monthly number of referrals by GPs to hospital clinics for investigation of possible bowel cancer fell by 63 per cent from 36,274 to 13,440.
It also found that the number of colonoscopies performed fell by 92 per cent from 46,441 to 3,484.
The monthly number of people with confirmed bowel cancer referred for treatment fell by 22 per cent from 2,781 to 2,158, the study showed.
The research published in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology further found that the number of operations performed fell by 31 per cent from 2,003 to 1,378.
Lead author, Professor Eva Morris, from the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford, said: “These results reflect serious disruption in the normal identification and treatment of patients with bowel cancer.
“Early diagnosis is key to obtaining the best survival for bowel cancer so these delays in diagnosis are likely to have severe consequences on survival rates from the disease.”
More than 90 per cent of patients diagnosed with bowel cancer at stage one of the disease survive for at least five years, compared with only 10 per cent of patients diagnosed at stage four.
The research was carried out by a team of clinicians and academic researchers from across the UK, including from the University of Leeds and the University of Newcastle.
They assessed the patterns of referral for bowel cancer investigation, diagnosis and treatment within the English NHS from January 1, 2019, to October 31, 2020.
COVID FEARS
Professor Sir Mike Richards, a trustee of Cancer Research UK, said: “Far fewer patients with symptoms suggestive of bowel cancer were referred to hospital during the first wave of the pandemic.
“This may have been linked to fear about catching the virus and to the Government’s call to ‘stay at home’ and ‘protect the NHS’.
“Diagnoses and treatments were therefore delayed, with a likely adverse impact on cancer survival.”
The study also suggests the first lockdown had a short-term impact on the numbers of people being treated.
