65396
Book your tickets here to the FSU’s live discussion with Matthew Goodwin about his new book. Book your tickets here to the FSU’s live discussion with Matthew Goodwin about his new book. Book your tickets here to the FSU’s live discussion with Matthew Goodwin about his new book.
  • Log in
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Forum
  • Donate
  • Newsletter
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

10,000 Fewer Patients in England Started Treatment for Breast Cancer in Past Year

by Michael Curzon
15 June 2021 10:59 AM

Progress in reducing deaths from breast cancer has been put at risk because of lockdown and the prioritisation of Covid above all other diseases (as well as the reluctance of people to “burden” the NHS thanks, in part, to Government messaging), with more than 10,000 fewer patients in England alone having started treatment in the past year compared to the year before. The Guardian has the story.

According to an analysis of NHS England figures by Cancer Research U.K. (CRUK), about 38,000 fewer cancer patients began treatment between April 2020 and March 2021, compared with the same period a year earlier. Just under 28% of these were breast cancer patients, equating to about 10,600 people.

With CRUK noting that 2018 figures suggest about 15% of new cancers are breast cancer, it seems the disease has been disproportionately affected by the Covid pandemic, with the charity saying the majority of those who have missed out on breast cancer treatment are likely to be people who have yet to be diagnosed, with the vast majority in an early stage of the disease.

Cancer that is detected early is generally more treatable.

The charity said the cancers may not have been picked up in part because of the pause in breast cancer screening during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to another charity, Breast Cancer Now, almost one million British women, including about 838,000 in England, missed a breast cancer screening appointment during the height of the first wave of coronavirus.

However, CRUK said other factors behind the drop may include the reluctance of some to seek help for symptoms when the Covid waves were at their peaks, either because of concerns about burdening the NHS or because they were afraid of catching Covid.

The charity said the figures suggested progress in reducing breast cancer deaths could be at risk: while the disease is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the U.K., mortality rates have dropped almost 40% since the 1970s.

Dr Ajay Aggarwal, a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS trust, whose own work has suggested diagnosis delays caused by the pandemic may lead to 3,500 deaths in England from four main cancers in the next five years, said the latest figures confirmed what was feared at the beginning of the Covid outbreak when cancer services were significantly disrupted.

“This also confirms work recently undertaken in south-east London, where during the first wave of the pandemic, across a region of 1.7 million people, there were 30% fewer diagnoses of breast cancer,” he said. “This is likely to worsen when considering the cumulative impact of the second wave.”

He said similar trends were being seen across a range of other cancers. “For those eventually presenting, the data suggests – and clinical experience – that patients are presenting with more advanced, complex disease, which is either incurable or associated with worse prognosis compared to if they had been diagnosed earlier.”

Worth reading in full.

Tags: Breast Cancercancer

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

Keeping Schools Open Had Only a Minor Impact on the Spread of COVID-19 in Sweden

Next Post

Vaccine Safety Update

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

19 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

 

DONATE

PODCAST

Nick Dixon and Toby Young Talk About Meghan and Harry’s Alleged Car Chase, Insane Immigration Under the Tories and the Sinister Closure of Triggernometry’s Bank Account

by Will Jones
23 May 2023
0

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editors Picks

News Round-Up

27 May 2023
by Richard Eldred

Watch: Moment E-Bike Explodes into Fireball in Block of Flats

27 May 2023
by Will Jones

Lockdowns “Harmed Hundreds of Millions of People for Years to Come” – Major Study

27 May 2023
by Will Jones

Trans Cyclist Emily Bridges Lashes Out at “Genocidal” British Cycling After Ban

26 May 2023
by Will Jones

Anti-Ulez Protesters Warn of French-Style Unrest as London Cameras Vandalised

27 May 2023
by Will Jones

News Round-Up

69

Not Dark Yet… But it’s Getting There

38

The French Show Us How to Deal With Eco-Loon Protesters Blocking Roads

22

Watch: Moment E-Bike Explodes into Fireball in Block of Flats

18

A Dispatch From the Woke Wars

15

Lockdowns “Harmed Hundreds of Millions of People for Years to Come” – Major Study

27 May 2023
by Will Jones

A Dispatch From the Woke Wars

27 May 2023
by Toby Young

Countering Censorship With Free Speech and Facts

25 May 2023
by Dr Carl Heneghan and Dr Tom Jefferson

The Only Way to Bring Peace to Ukraine is to Defeat Putin

24 May 2023
by Ian Rons

Frequent ‘Adjustments’ to Past Temperatures by Met Office Cast Doubt on Global Warming

24 May 2023
by Chris Morrison

POSTS BY DATE

June 2021
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  
« May   Jul »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Forum
  • Donate
  • Newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Please note: To be able to comment on our articles you'll need to be a registered donor

Already have an account?
Please click here to login Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment