A sharp drop
In 2020, approximately 140,330 new cases were diagnosed in Canada and reported to the Canadian Cancer Registry. This is around 14,000 less than in 2019 (154,760). This decline was particularly marked in April 2020, the month following the first confinement.
In fact, the number of registered cancer cases rose from 11,510 in March to 8,640 in April, then to 9,235 in May before settling at 11,585 in June. Note: Quebec and Nova Scotia, which are late in transmitting their data, are excluded from these statistics.
Dmajor disturbances
” That is problematic. It is not because we have detected fewer cancers that we have fewer people who have cancers”, says to The Press David Raynaud, Senior Quebec Manager for the Public Interest Advocacy Team at the Canadian Cancer Society. Disruptions to screening services, difficulty accessing care services and fewer in-person appointments have all possibly impacted the registration of new cancer cases, says Statistics Canada. ” [Cette baisse] doesn’t surprise us, because we saw in the field that there were impacts on cancer screening,” says Mr. Raynaud.
Quebec is not spared
Cancer screening in Quebec has also been affected by the pandemic. “There was a complete shutdown [des mammographies] between March 17 and May 16, 2020. We will feel the consequences of all this in the years to come,” says Karine-Iseult Ippersiel, President and CEO of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. In 2018, Quebec performed 363,747 mammograms, then 349,059 in 2019, but only 249,531 in 2020. Quebec returned to normal numbers in 2021 in most regions, says Mme Impersial. Screening for colorectal cancer through iFOBT tests, which look for the presence of blood in the stool, has also been affected. “We had a 26% decrease in tests in the first year of the pandemic,” says Mr. Raynaud.
Multiple cancers down
This decrease was observed for the four types of cancer most commonly diagnosed in Canada, namely breast, lung and bronchus, prostate, and colon and rectum. The number of diagnoses of skin melanoma, thyroid, kidney and renal pelvis and bladder cancers were also significantly lower than previously observed. The United States also noted a similar situation, Statistics Canada said. However, two cancers stand out from the pack. Incidence rates for cancers of the oropharynx (throat) and anus have both increased.
With Pierre-André Normandin, The Press