Long waiting lists and late detection: how COVID-19 continues to impact cancer screening in Europe

Breast cancer pins, thin mustaches in November, rotting teeth on cigarette packs and images of black lungs in classrooms – cancer awareness campaigns are a common sight all over Europe.

One of the main reasons why these images are now etched in the minds of many people is simple: early detection of cancer can save lives.

“The earlier cancer is caught, the easier it is to treat and the more likely the person is to survive the disease. For example, the 5-year survival rate for breast cancer is 94% in stage I and only 19% in stage IV,” said Averil Power, the CEO of the Irish Cancer Society.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on how people have accessed their GP, creating life-threatening backlogs and waiting lists.

For example, a year after the pandemic, there were one million fewer cancer screenings in England compared to the previous year, according to Cancer Research UK. And there were ten times more people who had to wait half a year or more for a diagnostic test.

‘One in 10 expected cancers was not diagnosed’

A similar situation has been reported in the rest of Europe. According to Power, “one in 10 expected cancers went undiagnosed” during the first year of the pandemic in Ireland.

And the consequences are devastating. Earlier this month, the group warned that about 14% of cancer patients are now diagnosed in Ireland’s emergency rooms.

And more than 100,000 patients are reportedly still waiting more than three months for vital scans.

There was also a similar decline in cancer-related funding during the first year of the pandemic. There was a 9% drop in funding for cancer research between 2020 and 2021 compared to the previous two years, according to the UK’s National Cancer Research Institute.

And the group added that one of the biggest sectors hit in that figure was cancer prevention, with bladder cancer, cancer of the small intestine and neuroblastoma taking the biggest hit.

Lung cancer, breast cancer, leukaemia, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer were not affected.

Calls for more childhood cancer screening

Some groups have historically lagged behind when it comes to cancer screening, regardless of the pandemic.

According to Paula Rodriguez, who works with Asociación Galbán, a group that supports families with children with cancer in Spain, doctors don’t initially screen for cancer when young people start showing symptoms. That’s because the first signs of cancer can sometimes mimic the symptoms of common childhood illnesses.

“Childhood cancer is a rare disease that can initially manifest with the same symptoms as other common childhood diseases,” Rodriguez said.

“It is usually masked by teething problems and is often difficult to diagnose. This creates a problem and in many cases the disease is detected in very advanced stages, worsening the child’s prognosis.”

She added that regular childhood cancer screening is a “dream” that could be possible one day.