Number of new cancer diagnoses dropped 27 per cent in spring 2020 as pandemic took hold halting GP visits and screening programmes
There is no evidence of a lasting impact on early cancer survival or mortality due to diagnostic delays experienced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
A new report from the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) found that survival rates for all cancers detected during 2020 and 2021 remained in line with previous years.
Cancer diagnoses dropped by 27 per cent in early 2020 as Covid-19 disrupted health services, with GP visits, hospital appointments and screening services all affected.
However, the system reconfigured quickly during the pandemic and recovered quickly after. By 2022 the number of diagnosed cases had returned to expected levels.
“The early months of the pandemic were a very uncertain time for patients and healthcare providers,” said NCRI director Prof Deirdre Murray.
“Some may have feared for example that the pause in screening programmes, and the fact that all GP appointments were now phone calls rather than face-to-face visits, would lead to a sharp rise in late-stage diagnoses (cancers that had progressed) post-pandemic.
“There is, however, no evidence of this in the data. Ireland’s cancer services adapted effectively under unprecedented pressure. The necessary compromises made during the pandemic to sustain the healthcare system continued to safeguard cancer patients.”
In spring 2020, the number of new cancer diagnoses dropped sharply compared to previous years, the result of reductions in GP visits and the pause in screening programmes.
Most of the reduction was in the four most common sites: breast, colorectal, prostate, and lung. By 2021 and 2022, the number of diagnosed cases had largely returned to expected levels with no sustained shift toward more advanced disease.
Cancer deaths during 2020–2022 increased slightly, but this was in line with expected demographic trends, not pandemic-specific effects.
“The data in this important report give reassurance to patients and their families,” Prof Murray said.
“The worry was that because of the initial drop in detection, people would present later with more advanced disease. This did not happen.
“Our data in the NCRI is quality-assured and is the definitive and authoritative metric for cancer control in Ireland. The data show that while the initial shock of the pandemic affected how and when cancers were diagnosed, the health services reconfigured at pace, and recovered at pace, and there is no evidence to date of lasting harm to survival or mortality.”
Ongoing monitoring will be essential to understand any delayed impacts, but early signs are positive. While longer-term effects cannot be entirely ruled out, the report says, current evidence suggests that cancer patients were safeguarded despite the unprecedented pressure of the global pandemic.
“We will continue to monitor and report on all data, but we are not expecting a long-term impact,’ Prof Murray concluded.
“We gather data from all hospitals and cancer care services across the country. Our data and scientific analysis are crucial to improving cancer care and cancer outcomes in Ireland.
“By gathering and analysing high-quality national data, we help ensure that Ireland’s cancer services are prepared not only for today’s challenges, but for those that lie ahead.”
