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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Beyond the direct impact of Covid-19 infections, the health crisis has had an impact on other pathologies, in particular cancers. Santé Publique France is today publishing an assessment based on the number of patients hospitalized for a new cancer. The analyzes of Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo.
What was the impact of Covid-19 and more broadly of the health crisis, on the incidence of cancers? This is the question posed by French scientists, who publish their work in the weekly epidemiological bulletin (BEH) this week.
An estimate based on the number of hospitalized patients
Based on hospital data dated from 2010 to 2021, extracted from the National Health Data System, the authors of this work produced a graphic description of the monthly number of patients hospitalized for a new cancer (in main diagnosis) before and during the pandemic ( from 2018 to 2021). Then, to more directly measure the impact of the health crisis, the experts compared the annual number of patients hospitalized for a new cancer in 2020 and 2021, to compare them with their estimates.
A deficit in the number of hospitalized patients noted
Result: the researchers demonstrate that there is “un manifest deficit in the number of patients hospitalized for a new cancer at the time of the first confinement, between the months of March to May 2020″. Moreover, they note “Cancers benefiting from organized screening or a possible postponement of surgery were more impacted than cancers with a poor prognosis, such as cancers of the liver or pancreas”.
A finding that can be observed in all regions of France, as well as in the overseas departments and regions. Finally, the authors point out, the “deficit does not seem to have been compensated in 2021″ because there is “no excess observed“.
Additional studies are needed to “refine” these results.
Further studies are needed to “refine these results”, especially “using observed incidence data from cancer registries, which will be available in 2023 for diagnoses made in 2020“add the authors.
Moreover, “While it is advisable to remain cautious in the interpretation of these hospital data as a reflection of temporal variations in the incidence of cancers in France, these data remain useful as a tool for epidemiological monitoring of cancers and allow a first estimate of the order magnitude of the impact of the pandemic in terms of cancer incidence“conclude the researchers.
The point of view of Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo
“The health crisis has caused a delay in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We are now seeing the effects of this type of decision, which we will surely pay for for years. We cannot throw stones at the government a posteriori, because it is always easier to rewrite history after the fact, but it still shows the importance of weighing the benefits and the risks before making any public health decision“.