Goa: Amid Covid fears, specialists warn about late-stage cancers

PANAJI: Even as people have avoided seeing their doctor during the pandemic due to the fear of contracting Covid-19, specialists across the state have sounded out a warning that many cancer patients have been presenting late — some, too late — even though they knew there was something drastically wrong with their health.

With a year-long delay in diagnosis and consequent commencement of medical treatment, many have lost their chance of a recovery, they feel.

“The fear of the pandemic was so high that people took all other complaints lightly. Every day, I see a new cancer patient,” said Dr Jose Filipe Alvares, a senior gastroenterologist and endoscopist.

Alvares said that people mustn’t ignore the smallest symptom, and said that as long as one wears a mask and has been vaccinated, there’s no reason to be scared to visit a doctor.

Another gastroenterologist. Dr Harish Peshwe, said that it’s not just the number of patients that have been worrying, but the stage they’re presenting. Their postponement, often till things get too bad, is a consequence of their fear of Covid.

In Goa, cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are common, with malignancies in the colon, stomach and liver only behind breast cancer in prevalence.

“Colon cancer is otherwise treatable, but when a patient reports at an advanced stage of the disease, the option of surgery is not available, and neither is the patient likely to bear chemotherapy. Otherwise, we operate even on seventy-plus patients,” he said.

“Unfortunately, cancer doesn’t rest during a pandemic,” says the Mayo Clinic. “The earlier cancer is detected, the better the chances for successful treatment.”

Oncologist Dr Eugene Rent said that the progression of cancer from stage-0 to I is slow, and even from stage-I to II isn’t fast, but after that, “it will advance speedily”.

“We are seeing a lot of patients coming in at stage-IV, and the delay was because of their fear of Covid-19,” said Rent.

Ironically, some patients who went to hospital for Covid treatment ended up being diagnosed with a malignancy after an echocardiogram or CT scan. “When questioned about the delay, they said that they chose to be home because of Covid,” he said. “I have seen at least 15 patients over the past few months who were diagnosed with breast cancer when they came for Covid treatment.”

In one case of fear-driven delay, Rent said that he recently saw a patient who was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. The patient refused to undergo treatment out of fear of the potential third wave. “The patient went home without treatment even as she was advised that she may not live to see the third wave, as and when it happens, if she chose to stay without treatment,” he said.