An increase in more cases of advanced breast cancer since before the pandemic has been linked to breast screening service shutdowns during COVID-19, a new study from The Australian National University (ANU) shows.
Key points:
• According to the study's findings, women faced two major challenges during the pandemic. First, many were frightened to attend general practitioner and hospital appointments for fear of catching COVID. Second, the national BreastScreen Australia program was closed during 2020 and 2021 for a total of six months.
• Two key concerns emerged as a consequence. During the pandemic 53 per cent of women presented with symptoms that were not detected by mammography. This figure was as high as 57 per cent in the post-pandemic period. Both the pandemic and post-pandemic figures are much higher than the pre-pandemic period, where the figure was 42 per cent.
• Alarmingly, there were more patients with advanced breast cancer (stage 3 or 4) in the pandemic and post-pandemic group (8.5 per cent and 7 per cent) compared to the pre-pandemic group (4.6 per cent). Patients also had more chance of the disease spreading to their lymph nodes and developing into stage 2 breast cancer.
Lead author, ANU Professor John Boyages AM, based at the San Integrated Cancer Centre said the study showed some worrying trends for patients with more aggressive cancers.
“Aggressive cancers are known to grow more quickly,” he said.
“The increased probability of having cancer spread to a patient’s lymph nodes and delayed diagnosis is likely to translate into poorer patient outcomes in the longer term,” Professor Boyages said.
“Our study clearly shows government and health authorities need to prioritise cancer screening in future pandemics.”