How the Pandemic Affected Cancer Screenings: A Comforting Update.

In 2020, many people in America had to wait to get checked for cancer. This happened because of the COVID-19 sickness that made hospitals very busy. But experts who watch cancer numbers do not see big changes because of this waiting.

The number of people dying from cancer is still going down. A new study says there were not many big changes in finding cancer late. This study is the biggest one yet to look at how the sickness affected cancer in America.

In 2020, when the sickness started, more cancers were found when they were harder to help. But in 2021, things went back to how they were before for most cancers. Recinda Sherman, who led the study, said this is good news because they do not see more late-stage cancers.

The number of new cancer cases went down in 2020, but then went back to normal in 2021. The drop in new cancers was about the same in different states. The people who did the study said that what people did and how hospitals worked was more important than what the states said to do.

Finding cervical cancer and prostate cancer late did go up a little in 2021. The study only looks at data until 2021, so it is not the last word. Sherman said they did not see big changes, so it is not likely that people with fast-growing cancer were not found during that time.