The Gustave Roussy Institute, in Villejuif.

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Jacques Witt / SIPA

Delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment, linked to the first wave of coronavirus, could result in patients "without Covid" by an excess of cancer mortality of 2 to 5%, five years after the start of treatment. charge, according to a French study.

It is the delays and delays in the arrival of patients that have the greatest impact, shows the research presented by statistician Aurélie Bardet from the Gustave Roussy Institute (Villejuif, Paris region).

An excess mortality which would mainly affect liver cancers, sarcomas and cancers of the head and neck.

Multiple data sources 

This research is based on a mathematical model which made it possible to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the organization of cancer care and the consequences on the prognosis, given the delays associated with confinement.

The authors, including in particular Lucile Ter-Minassian from the Oxford statistical department, used hospital data from the Ile-de-France establishment dedicated to cancer (nearly 4,900 patients), the inventory of changes in care during confinement as well as '' an analysis of international medical publications.

"Do not delay for your support" 

This evaluation model, used initially in France at the Gustave Roussy Institute, is intended to be extended to other centers, national and European and will be developed to determine the maximum lag not to be exceeded, in each situation. clinic, to minimize the impact on patient survival, the institute said in a press release on Friday.

In the event of a resumption of the epidemic, the importance of not delaying treatment must be emphasized to the public authorities, patients or people who need to be screened, he notes.

For some advanced stage cancers, a delay in treatment can lead to a major deterioration in the prognosis.

"Patients do not delay either for your care, or for your follow-up," launches researcher Aurélie Bardet in a video broadcast by the institute.

This preliminary study, called Grouvid, is on the program of the online congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO 2020), organized from September 19 to 21.

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