Covid-19 could interfere with cancer treatments

The director of the National Cancer Institute is worried about Covid-19. There’s risk of infection, of course, but the immediate cause of NCI Director Ned Sharpless' concern is that people are now postponing routine screenings, like mammograms and colonoscopies, to steer clear of the novel coronavirus.

An NCI model of breast and colorectal cancers projects that there will be 10,000 more deaths in the U.S. over the next 10 years because of these testing delays, STAT’s Elizabeth Cooney writes. Screening needs to continue, even if a second wave of coronavirus infections hits in the fall, Sharpless said.

“We can open hospitals and worry about a second wave. I think it’s possible to do both. We have to,” Sharpless said. “To do otherwise, we’re going to trade different public health emergencies. So I think we can’t delay cancer care forever.”