Cancer screening carried out by local governments, drastically reduced with new corona 8% in May last year

Cancer screening carried out by local governments, drastically reduced with new corona 8% last year in May 4:53 on August 12

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Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the number of people undergoing cancer screening conducted by local governments has decreased significantly, especially in May, which was 8% compared to the same period last year, a survey by the Japan Cancer Society revealed .. The association calls for "I would like you to have a medical examination because there is a possibility that it will be found after the cancer has progressed if the medical examination is delayed."

Cancer screening is carried out in order to detect cancer early and reduce the mortality rate. A total of 11 million people undergo cancer screening every year, and 13,000 cancers are discovered.

In order to investigate the effects of the new coronavirus, the Japan Cancer Society, a public interest incorporated foundation that is promoting cancer screening in various places, conducted a questionnaire targeting branches of 42 prefectures nationwide in June this year, and received answers from 32 branches. It was.

According to it, the number of people who have been screened for 5 types of cancer such as stomach cancer and breast cancer started to decrease from March this year, 64% in March, 16% in April, May compared to the same period last year Is 8%, which is a big decrease.

The association believes that the number of people who refrain from receiving medical examinations due to concerns about discontinuation of medical examinations and infections has increased.

In addition, all branch offices that responded say that the medical examination will be restarted by this month, but due to the need to reduce the number of people who can receive it at one time to prevent infection, more than half of the 21 branch offices are this year. It is said that "30% or more will be reduced" for the examinees.

Hiroshi Konishi, Manager of the Japan Cancer Society, said, “If the cancer is detected late and the cancer progresses, it may affect the treatment. If you are unwilling to undergo the group screening of the local municipality, you should also go to the medical institution. It is possible. Since we have taken proper measures against infection at the site, we would like you to have a medical examination for early detection."

Details of survey results

This time, the Japan Cancer Society conducted a questionnaire survey on the status of implementation of five cancer screenings for gastric cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer conducted by local governments, targeting branch offices in 42 prefectures nationwide, and 32 branch offices. Got an answer from

According to the results of the survey, the number of examinees in January and February was almost the same as last year, but it began to decrease in March, reaching 32,000, or 64% of about 50,000 last year.

Group examinations are often conducted every year, and the number of examinees does not increase even in April and May when the number of examinees increases. In April, there were more than 30,000, 16% of 190,000 last year, and in May 30,000. There were more than 7,000 people, 8% of last year's 450,000 people.

Looking at the types of cancer in May, lung cancer was 5.8%, gastric cancer was 5.9%, colorectal cancer was 6.8%, breast cancer was 10.4%, and cervical cancer was 19.6% in May, which had the largest decline. The result is to stay.

Of these, lung cancer is generally said to progress rapidly, and the association points out that future increases in the number of patients found with advanced cancer may affect treatment.

In addition, all branch offices that responded say that the medical examination will be resumed by this month, but when asked about the prospect of the number of examinees this year, 12 branch offices answered that "30% decrease", "4 9 branches answered "reduced," 20 branches answered "20% reduced", and 2 branches answered "almost as usual or 10% reduced".

More than half of the 21 branch offices answered that "30% or more will be reduced", and the reason is to reduce the number of people who receive one group medical examination for infection control.

At the site of cancer screening

Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture has a schedule for cancer screening 6 to 8 times a month, but it was suspended for 3 months from April to June due to the influence of the new coronavirus. ..

At that time, an emergency was declared, and the Cancer Society and others were calling for cancellation or postponement because mass screening could be a place of infection.

In Takarazuka City, after taking infection measures such as disinfecting equipment every time one person visits last month, the number of people who can receive a day is limited from 100 people to 50 people, which is half the number, and the examination is restarted. However, from April to the end of last month, the number of examinees was 417, which was about a quarter of the number of 1649 in the same period of the previous year.

In Takarazuka City, we would like to increase the number of times of group screening so that as many people as possible can receive the same screening as usual, but since we limit the number of people each time, it is unclear how much it can be increased. I am.

A 71-year-old woman who came to the checkup said, "It's not easy to go personally. I'm afraid, but I'm divorced."

Kenryu Kadota, a public health nurse of the Takarazuka City Health Promotion Division, said, "We are reducing the number of people, spacing them apart, and disinfecting equipment so that we can do it with less risk, so please feel free to come." , We also carry it out at medical institutions, so I would like you to have a medical checkup and try to detect cancer early.”

Screening for gastric cancer has the greatest impact

Cancer screening is carried out to reduce the number of people who die of cancer by detecting cancer at an early stage, and for the five cancers of stomach cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer, Nationwide efforts have been made with the goal of increasing the consultation rate to 50%.

At the Tokyo Metropolitan Preventive Medicine Association in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, we received a request from local governments for 5 cancers, and every year about 150,000 residents came to the association's medical examination center We send out a check-up car and perform check-ups, but from April to May, when the emergency was announced, the check-ups were suspended to prevent infection.

Even after resuming in June, many people can not be screened at the same time due to infection control, and as the infection spreads again after July, people who are worried about the risk of infection are increasing.

As a result, the number of examinees from April to July has dropped to less than half that of last year.

Of these, the biggest impact is screening for gastric cancer. In gastric endoscopy, the person in charge of the examination should wear gloves, a mask, and a gown as well as a new cap, face shield, goggles, and apron in order to prevent splashing of the person on the examination. You have to change to a new one every time.

In addition, in the X-ray examination of the stomach, in order to prevent a dense state in the changing room, the number of people who can use it at one time is reduced, and the X-ray device and the changing room are disinfected with alcohol every time one person is examined. , I used to have about 16 people per hour, but now I have 10 or less.

Therefore, the number of people who have undergone gastric cancer screening decreased by 85% from last year from April to July.

"I would like to make sure that as many people as possible are able to receive medical checkups by taking measures such as thorough infection control and increasing the time available for medical examinations," said Abe, Executive Director of the Tokyo Metropolitan Preventive Medicine Association. I am.

"I'm afraid that delayed detection will reduce the therapeutic effect" "Early examination"

Cancer care professionals fear that a reduction in the number of people undergoing screening may affect the treatment of patients.

At the Cancer Research Ariake Hospital in Koto Ward, Tokyo, which has the most cancer patients to see in Japan, cancer patients who are referred by screening facilities and other hospitals before the spread of the new coronavirus infection begins. There were around 40 people per day, but from May to June it decreased by about 35% to around 25 people.

At the hospital, there is a fear that cancer that should have been found early may be found in the advanced state, and the mortality rate due to cancer that has fallen over decades may increase.

Director Sano Take said, “In particular, the referrals from the screening facilities suddenly stopped, and the chance to discover cancer has disappeared. In fact, those who were supposed to undergo medical examinations in March and April 7 There are some cases where cancer was found to have metastasized after being postponed to the moon.Some cancers have little effect if the detection is delayed, but some cancers, such as lung cancer, are too late to be treated. I am afraid that the discovery of cancer will be delayed and the therapeutic effect will decrease.”

In addition, he said, "In many cases, a little subjective symptom triggers a doctor to visit a hospital and find cancer. If there are any symptoms that you think are strange, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible and have them tested. It is required to transmit correct information such as ".