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RECENT data from the United Kingdom (UK Lung Cancer Coalition and Cancer Research UK) and the United States worryingly suggests a 40% to 70% decline in lung cancer referrals due to the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. This is most likely due to a disruption in routine provision of clinical services and an understandable reticence on the part of the public to visit their doctor or to be admitted to hospital for fear of contracting the coronavirus.
Another possible reason for the decline in detection is misdiagnosis of lung cancer as a Covid-19 illness due to shared common presenting symptoms like a cough or breathlessness. The link between coughing and Covid-19 and its associated stigma could also deter potential lung cancer victims from seeking early medical help. We have to be careful that a similar scenario does not occur here in Malaysia.
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