Concept vector illustration. Human diseases.Stop cancer
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States CDCAfter heart disease, cancer screening is an important preventive measure to reduce the occurrence and death of cancer.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a sharp decline in cancer screening, including brain tumor detection. According to clinical reports, although medical staff and overall efforts have shifted to respond to the screening and treatment of Covid-19 patients, the number of new malignant tumor diagnoses decreased by 65.2% in April 2020.The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cancer-related patients. “
In addition, the results of the original study were first published in Oncology Shows a significant increase in oncology care cancelled from 2019 to 2020. According to the study, the cancellation of clinic, laboratory and surgical visits increased by 4.2%, 4.84%, and 5.22%, respectively.
As the Covid-19 Delta variant pandemic continues, healthcare experts predict that more delayed and skipped cancer screenings and/or treatments will lead to worse health outcomes and an increase in advanced cancers in the next few years diagnosis. The entire healthcare community must encourage patients to arrange routine cancer screenings to detect precancerous lesions and other cancers at the earliest stages that are easier to treat.
When patients face aggressive diseases such as brain cancer, timely treatment is essential. Healthcare providers must communicate the urgency of treatment and work with patients to develop plans to limit exposure risks. For example, in the case of aggressive brain tumors, the standard of treatment is surgery, then radiotherapy, and in many cases chemotherapy. However, traditional radiation therapy requires patients to travel to and from the treatment facility multiple times for tumor resection and daily external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for up to six weeks.
There are two EBRT alternatives to reduce exposure risk:
- Hyperfractionation or stereotactic radiotherapy, that is, providing fewer and larger doses in a shorter time, so patients have fewer overall EBRT appointments.
- Surgical Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) provides immediate radiation therapy during tumor resection by implanting a bioabsorbable radiation source on the operating bed. This treatment plan completely eliminates the need for EBRT and related appointments.
In these uncertain times, please remember to proactively engage with patients and encourage them to resume regular cancer screening to prevent delayed diagnosis that may worsen health outcomes, and explore all options to limit access to patients receiving cancer treatment.
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