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Because people fear hospital visits in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), the late diagnosis of cancer and its stage of migration could be consequences of the current crisis, according to high-level oncologists.
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While many medical treatments can be postponed amid the COVID-19 crisis, “cancer doesn’t wait,” oncologists feel.
Cancer treatment in times of coronavirus has been challenging since the pandemic is affecting both cancer diagnosis and treatment, as doctors have to balance the risks against the benefits on a daily basis.
Dr. Bhawna Sirohi, director of Medical Oncology at Max Healthcare, said cancer “is not going to wait” and that the threat is “now and for real.”
“I feel like the patients, scared by COVID-19, are not going to hospitals and that is pushing them from early cancer to late stages,” he told the PTI.
Ms. Sirohi urged patients not to be afraid to go to hospitals and if they have a warning sign like a lump, they should not delay treatment.
She said she recently had a patient who ignored symptoms for three weeks and delayed consulting a doctor, but was later found to have cancer.
COVID-19 is here to stay and you just have to get used to the precautions and make it a new normal, he said.
“Stages 1 and 2 (of cancer) can become 3 and 4, they can become incurable if you don’t act on it,” Sirohi said.
Speaking about cancer treatment in the days of COVID-19, he said a balance should be maintained between the risks and the benefits.
“If the benefit is very small, chemotherapy should be avoided. But if you have a patient with lymphoma or blood cancer, then the cure rates are very high, so you will want to reap the benefits, “he said.
Dr. Akshay Tiwari, Associate Director and Head of Musculoskeletal Oncology, Max Healthcare, said that as a bone cancer surgeon he faces challenges on multiple levels.
Patients find it very difficult to travel and even those who have the means to travel are afraid to go to the hospital for fear of contracting coronavirus, he said.
This means that patients who should have been seeking treatment are not, and that would lead to staged migration of the cancer, Tiwari said.
“Some cases may even become incurable due to the delay. We fear this as patients do not come to us. Similar fears have been expressed by cancer specialists around the world, “he told the PTI.
The message should go to the public that cancer does not wait and is even more deadly than COVID-19, said the chief oncologist.
“The diagnosis can also be delayed and that is the unfortunate thing. There needs to be a message that we shouldn’t ignore symptoms that are remotely related to cancer, for example a lump or inflammation, “he said.
Dr. Rajender Kumar, Additional Director and Chief Oncology of Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, said that the COVID-19 crisis definitely represents a challenge for cancer treatment, as many patients with malignancy in the head and Neck or lung cancer have similar symptoms. to COVID-19.
“We are using all precautions and the staff is using PPE since cancer treatment is essential,” he told the PTI.
When asked if the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to a diagnosis of late cancer, Mr. Kumar said that patients are arriving at his hospital and their numbers have not decreased, but it is a possibility since most routine clinics and hospitals are closed and people are closed. Do not go to your doctors.
“We don’t have data on it, but it can happen,” Kumar said.
Dr. Niranjan Naik, Director of Surgical Oncology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, said the COVID-19 crisis poses a challenge as patients with low immunity are at increased risk of contracting the virus.
He said the key aspect of making decisions is the cancer doubling time, which is different for different types of cancer, since blood cancer is very aggressive compared to breast cancer.
“Whenever any symptoms arise, proper medical research should be done even in the current times, as cancer will not wait,” Naik told PTI.
Oncologists insisted that the technology should be used to seek medical advice and any symptoms should be reported through a video conference appointment or an online OPD.
While the nation is waging one of its greatest health battles against the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many individual battles that the brave, both medical and patient, are fighting to emerge victorious against other life-threatening diseases.
