ABC News: Impact of pandemic cancer screening pause

Millions of colonoscopies, mammograms, lung scans, Pap tests and other cancer screenings were suspended for several months last spring in the United States and elsewhere as COVID-19 became the priority in medical care.

Now researchers are studying the impact, looking to see how many cancers were missed and whether tumors found since then are more advanced.

Already, there are hints of trouble. University of Cincinnati researchers found that when CT scans to check for lung cancer resumed in June, 29% of patients had suspicious nodules versus 8% in prior years. This research was led by Robert Van Haren, MD, assistant professor of surgery at UC and a UC Health thoracic surgeon.

Read the full ABC News report.

Read more about the UC-led study.

Dr. Van Haren was also a guest on WVXU-FM's Cincinnati Edition program, discussing these findings.

Featured photo of Robert Van Haren, MD, looking at lung scan by Colleen Kelley.