Warns charities for fear that thousands of people with breast cancer will die sooner due to the coronavirus crisis

Thousands of women who are incurable breast cancer Suffering from acute anxiety, Coronavirus Pandemic collapse treatment, a major charity warns.

Breast Cancer Patients are now afraid of dying prematurely because surgery and clinical trials have been cancelled, hormones and other drugs are struggling to obtain, and treatment and scans are delayed. I will.

A charity in the UK targeting more than 580 people with breast cancer has seen significant changes in chemotherapy or targeted therapies, or a significant amount of secondary breast cancer patients temporarily shelved to improve the immune system. Found

Campaigners pointed out that this resulted in them going for weeks or months without the treatment that helped ensure that their cancers did not get worse.

Breast Cancer Now’s Ask Our nurse service experienced a 60% increase this March-patients are worried about how the Covid-19 emergency could affect them.

Joan Addis, who was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer after being hospitalized in April 2017 a few weeks after having had surgery for her primary breast cancer, said she discontinued her treatment for three months last month.

A 54-year-old doctor from Stockport said: “I wasn’t very happy that the treatment with parvocyclib, which had been stabilizing the cancer for three years, would be discontinued. I’ll try not to think about what will happen in the next two months, but what’s the June scan? I’m worried that will be displayed.

“If my illness progresses, I feel like I wasted treatment options and the time it would have given me. Not because my cancer stopped responding, but because of the risk of the virus. And, it does not seem fair to start such a valuable treatment.

“I had so much pain in my right lower back that I couldn’t walk, so I went to the hospital right after I took off Parvocyclib. Thankfully, I didn’t see any cancer progression, but the risk of coronavirus persisted and I was treated. I’m really worried about what will happen if I have to keep going longer, and I feel that everything is out of my control at the moment, but this is really hard.

“There are many people like me who had to suspend their cancer treatments, and not all of us will have good results at the end of this. I hope I can resume treatment. “

Breast cancer, the most prevalent type of cancer in the UK, kills about 11,500 women each year in the UK. Secondary breast cancer, the disease spreading to other areas of the body, is present in almost all of these deaths.

It is estimated that there are currently about 35,000 people in the UK with secondary breast cancer.

Breast cancer is due to a monitoring scan that has been postponed for up to 3 months due to coronavirus disruption, some patients are worried about whether the treatment they are receiving is effective or whether the cancer is growing, he said. ..

Charity warned of these issues, with a sudden drop in suspicious cancer referrals reported by the NHS agency in April, warning that cancer could be identified at more difficult stages of cure. ..

The researchers found that some women treated for primary breast cancer had postponed follow-up scans.

However, this study found that patients with secondary breast cancer were more likely than women with primary breast cancer to resolve their frustration to face treatment problems during the Covid-19 crisis. ..

Karen Hilton, who was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer after she noticed a lump in her clavicle in September 2018, also confirmed that her treatment had been severely disrupted by the virus.

A 48-year-old from Dalkeith, Scotland was planning to marry her 10-year-old partner, Alistair, in April, but the couple was forced to cancel the wedding due to government social distance rules. ..

“Treatment has worked very effectively in the first place, but cancer seems to avoid the problem and recur,” Ms. Hilton said. “Unfortunately, I have a lot of options left, and those options include trials of new treatments. They could keep me alive, but at the moment Covid I’m not able to access it due to -19 and I don’t know how long it will take for the clinical trials to resume.I’d love to see my son grow but I wonder if that might happen. Hurts. “

“I’ve been on treatment for a few weeks now, but my current chemotherapy may lower my blood counts, and if it’s too low, I may need to stop. Very important.

“I can’t when I’m out and want to follow the bucket list and all travel plans. I can’t even go out for coffee with friends. Me and my family are really tough Living with this cancer is a horrible situation, but I hope to get the treatment I need. “

Warning is given that there is growing concern that the emergency response to a coronavirus pandemic has broader health consequences and has already led to increased mortality from other causes.

A study by University College London released last month found that the secondary effects of a pandemic could kill about 18,000 people in the UK next year from cancer.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of Breast Cancer Now, said: Many women experience or fear significant changes in care, and the levels of anxiety, distress, and fear we have heard on the helpline have been unmatched in recent years.

“Living with incurable breast cancer can be very difficult, but you may have to suspend treatments that may have prolonged your life, or you may not have access to the next treatment or trial you were counting on. Adding the great uncertainty that there is, is quite disastrous.

“NHS clinicians, researchers, and experts around the world have been working quickly to develop new protocols to guide treatment decisions during a pandemic. Often, treatment changes or short delays We believe it is unlikely to lead to significant long-term consequences, but we now know when people with secondary breast cancer need support, action, and most hope. It cannot be thrown away. As cancer catch-up strategies for the next stage of the pandemic are developed, it is essential to recognize and address the often-forgotten needs of refractory cancer patients. ”

She urged anyone who is worried about treating breast cancer to call the 0808 800 6000 free helpline.