Cancer is the other ‘big C’ we can’t afford to push aside

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The UK’s health and care services are working incredibly hard to respond to the exceptional challenges presented by the new big “C” – coronavirus. While attention is rightly on saving lives and beating the pandemic, it is also vital to remember that the other big “C” has not gone anywhere. People around the UK continue to be diagnosed with cancer each day and still need vital treatment and support.

We know there has never been a more terrifying time for many people living with cancer: isolating at home, separated from loved ones and suddenly being told the treatment and surgery that had felt like their lifeline could be changed or postponed. Calls to the Macmillan Support Line about Covid-19 soared by 1,600 per cent during March, which shows how many cancer patients feel deeply concerned about the impact of the coronavirus on their outcomes. People tell us every day they feel scared, lonely and frightened for their future.

From a medical perspective, no figure illustrates the gravity of the situation for cancer patients better than the study released by UCL’s study with DATA-CAN this week, revealing that the Covid-19 emergency in England could result in at least 20 per cent more deaths over the next 12 months in people who have been newly diagnosed with cancer. This is hugely concerning.

The scale of possible long-term damage caused by coronavirus on the health of our nation and to the lives of people living with conditions, like cancer, simply cannot be ignored.

The government has begun to make moves to prevent this damaging outcome, but further steps are required to protect people living with cancer. While Matt Hancock announced this week that other NHS services will be restored, starting with the most urgent, including cancer care, we need to see the overall plan for how the NHS will get everything it needs to recover and catch up as quickly as possible from the disruption of the pandemic. This means having the right staff, protective equipment and testing to deliver safe care.

The other fundamental action to safeguard against cancer becoming the forgotten “C” in the pandemic is ensuring people are getting any potential signs or symptoms of cancer checked by their GP as soon as possible. Delay in the diagnosis and treatment of many cancers can make treatment harder and reduce the chance of survival.

In the current lockdown environment, it is entirely understandable that people are concerned about increasing the risk of contracting coronavirus by visiting their surgery. People are also rightly worried about the uncertainty of whether usual services are running as normal, as well as not wanting to add pressure to the NHS. But people must not let this stop them from getting their symptoms checked. Not doing so could have much more serious consequences.

Cancer is a life-changing health condition at the best of times and now, in the face of a lengthy pandemic, it is more important than ever to ensure it does not become the forgotten “C”.

Lynda Thomas is CEO at Macmillan Cancer Support

Macmillan Cancer Support has launched a Cancer and Coronavirus Hub to provide information and advice. The free Macmillan Support Line is also open seven days a week between 8am-8pm on 0808 808 00 000. To donate to Macmillan’s emergency appeal visit: macmillan.org.uk/emergency.