As a result of the SarsCov2 pandemic, in the first 5 months of 2020, approximately 1.4 million fewer screening tests for cancer were performed in Italy than in the same period of 2019. reduction of new diagnoses of breast cancer (2,099 fewer) and colorectal cancer (611 fewer).
The estimate is from the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom): "Delays in secondary prevention programs - warns Aiom president Giordano Beretta - may cause an increase in mortality in the coming years".
These neoplasms have not in fact disappeared, but will be identified at a more advanced stage, with consequent lower chances of recovery and the need for greater resources for treatment. For this reason, AIOM asks the institutions to allocate more funds to the fight against cancer, not only for therapies but also to enhance telemedicine and to create defined collaboration paths with local medicine. The impact of Covid-19 on oncology and the identification of new tools to cope with the consequences of the virus are among the central themes of the Congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology (Esmo), starting tomorrow in virtual form and presented today. Various innovations will be presented at the congress, says Beretta, starting from new results on the use of immunotherapy for neoplasia for which up to now there was no indication for the use of this therapeutic approach, which aims to awaken the immune system to fight cancer.