A similar study by software provider Epic found that cancer screenings in the U.S. plunged more than 90% as a direct result of the virus, while a multinational initiative called the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) found that cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to die, compared to the rate of death for all patients with the disease.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America president and CEO Pat Basu said last month that the disruption of COVID-19 in oncology care had created a 37% drop in cancer care diagnoses and risks creating a “shadow curve” that may result in a dramatic spike in undiagnosed and untreated cancer cases as a side effect of the pandemic.


"We must do everything possible to avoid the cancer shadow curve,” he said in a statement. “Cancers are going undiagnosed, undetected and undertreated as disruption continues and important cancer screenings are postponed. Cancer doesn't wait for COVID-19 and neither will we. We will continue to screen people and provide treatment, while creating and implementing new tools to empower people to identify specific screenings and steps they must take."

Back to HCB News

Rad Oncology Homepage