Due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the number of operations at the Cancer Institute Ariake Hospital in Tokyo, one of Japan's leading cancer hospitals, has decreased significantly, with the number of early gastric cancer operations halved last year. I found out.
Concerned about infection, the number of people undergoing medical examinations has decreased, and the number of people who can be found early has decreased, raising concerns that more people will be found with advanced cancer.
The Cancer Institute Ariake Hospital is a cancer hospital with the largest number of patients in Japan. Every year, about 500 operations for gastric cancer and about 1200 operations for breast cancer are performed.
A hospital survey of the number of surgeries over the last year found that gastric cancer was down 32% overall from the previous year, especially in the earliest "stage 1A" by 50%.
Also, for breast cancer, from April to December last year, compared to the same period of the previous year, there was a 19% reduction in overall surgery and a 27% reduction in cancer up to "stage 1", both of which are particularly early surgery. It means that the number of cases has decreased significantly.
Worried about the infection of the new corona, the number of people undergoing cancer screening and hospital examinations has decreased significantly, and the number of people who can be found early has decreased. It is said that the number of people found in the state is increasing.
The number of surgeries has been about the same as usual since last fall, but Dr. Takeshi Sano said, "There is a concern that more and more people will find cancer in a more advanced state nationwide. However, the countermeasures are quite advanced, so if you have any symptom that you are interested in, you should go to the clinic without hesitation, and even if you do not have any symptom, you should have a thorough examination. "