THE number of cervical cancer cases detected at an early stage nearly halved in 2020, as screening services were paused due to Covid.
Campaigners described the figures as “shocking”, with the report by Public Health Scotland (PHS) also seeing substantial falls in the number of early-stage breast and bowel cancer diagnoses compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Peter Hastie, of Macmillan Cancer Support in Scotland, said: “These figures are shocking. When the pandemic hit, thousands of vital cancer appointments and screening tests were postponed.
READ MORE: Third of Scots cancer cases only detected on A&E admission
“The consequences of this disruption to cancer services are impossible to ignore, and the latest data is another part of a very worrying picture.
“We know that delays in diagnosing cancer can lead to people facing more serious treatments that leave them with long term health issues, and in some cases, to being left with cancers at a stage which can’t be treated.”
The PHS report shows that nearly 2,800 fewer cancer diagnoses overall were made in 2020 compared to 2019, a fall of eight per cent.
Professor David Morrison, director of the Scottish Cancer Registry, said: “Usually, a fall in new cancer diagnoses suggests that we are getting better at preventing it.
“But in 2020, the drop in expected cases suggests that people still had cancer but were not being diagnosed.”
Diagnosis of early-stage cancers fell more than for late-stage disease.
In the case of cervical cancer, overall diagnoses fell by 24% but early stage detections were down 45% year-on-year.
Similar patterns were seen for cases of female breast cancer - down 11% overall, but 20% for early-stage diagnoses - and by 19% overall for colorectal cancer but 33% for early-stage detections.
PHS said it “appears that pausing screening services led to an under-diagnosis” of the three cancers, which are among the most common in Scotland.
READ MORE: Doctors in tears over harm coming to patients in crisis-hit A&Es
The 63-page report said Covid has a “huge impact on all aspects of cancer control in Scotland”, with delays to diagnostic investigations and a drop in GP referrals for patients with cancer symptoms also meaning that cases were more likely to have been missed, while some patients “will have died of Covid-19 before they were diagnosed with cancer in 2020”.
PHS said it is “likely” that levels of cancer under-diagnosis had been more acute in deprived areas.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman said life-saving early detection “went out the window in 2020”, while Scottish Conservative public health spokeswoman Sue Webber said Scotland now faces a “cancer ticking timebomb”.
Maree Todd, Scotland’s public health minister, said: “Early cancer diagnosis has never been more important which is why we’ve committed a further £20 million over the parliamentary term - on top of the £44 million previous investment - to our Detect Cancer Early Programme, which aims to provide greater public awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer to improve earlier diagnosis rates.”
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