Canceled skin cancer screenings during COVID led to unprecedented death toll

By Isobel Williams via SWNS

Over 100,000 years of life were lost due to cancelled skin cancer screenings during the pandemic, a new study has revealed.

New research has found that delays in diagnosing melanoma, a common type of skin cancer, due to Covid-19 lockdown may have contributed to over 100,000 years of life lost across Europe and over £6 billion in costs.

The University College London researchers say this is due to the fact that skin cancer needs to be detected early, and cancelled appointments allowed it to progress to later stages.

Co-lead author Dr. Kaustubh Adhikari said: “When lockdowns were introduced as a much-needed measure to stop the spread of Covid-19, there were extensive unintended consequences.

"Many screenings were cancelled, and medical treatments were delayed.

“As many people missed appointments to detect or treat skin cancer, their cancer progressed to a later stage, which resulted in more expensive care and a greater risk that the treatment would not be successful.

“It’s alarming that for just one disease, there were many years of life lost, a lower quality of life for many thousands of people and billions of pounds of economic impact.

"This may be just the tip of the iceberg of the consequences of delayed diagnosis and treatment due to lockdowns.”

To get their results, published in JAMA Network Open, the international team analyzed data from 50,072 patients of two cancer treatment centers in Switzerland and Italy.

The researchers estimated how many people’s cancer would have progressed from one stage to the next due to delays in beginning or continuing treatment, as both screening services and treatments were disrupted in 2020 and 2021 due to lockdown restrictions, staff shortages, and fear of infection.

They estimated that for roughly 17 percent of people with melanoma, their cancer would have progressed to a higher stage in 2020-2021, due to delays in diagnosis or treatment of two to three months or longer.

The research team then estimated the additional medical costs, noting that treating later-stage cancer is more expensive and comes with a lower chance of success.

They found that the diagnosis delays contributed to around 111,464 years of life lost across 31 countries in Europe, and a total economic cost of £6.1 billion.

The scientists hope that their findings will help advise healthcare professionals on how to better cope if there is another pandemic in the future.

Dr. Adhikari said: “While the lockdowns did save many lives by mitigating the toll of Covid-19 itself, it is important that we learn from the experience to ensure that if another pandemic arises, we can effectively balance different healthcare priorities.”

Co-lead author Dr. Elisabeth Roider from the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland, added: “Our findings show that preventative healthcare always needs to be a top priority, both in normal times and in times of crisis; any plans for potential future pandemics need to consider unintended side effects on a wide range of health conditions and plan holistically.

“Delays to diagnosis and treatment can be devastating to people affected by cancer, so getting prompt evaluation and treatment is vital for people concerned about their health, while screening programs need to be treated as a priority by healthcare system leaders.”