During the first wave, the Covid-19 epidemic disrupted the organisation of cancer patient care: treatments were adapted in order to reduce the risk of contamination for patients. But most of all, some patients missed or postponed screening and diagnostic tests. One reason was a reluctance to leave home to see a doctor.

As a result, an alarming decline in cancer diagnoses was observed following the Covid-19 outbreak, at least for the first half of 2020. “Depending on the region, the decrease has been 30% to 50%,” said Prof. Axel Kahn, president of the cancer-fighting Ligue contre le cancer. He warned that “there has been no subsequent rise in numbers to compensate” for the drop and that France’s cancer centres “did not see the expected rebound in terms of diagnoses and medical visits … A major country like ours has a duty to treat Covid-19, but, past the shock of the first wave, we must avoid losing opportunities to fight other serious diseases,” he added.

Oncologists have seen a re-emergence of extremely severe cancer diagnoses, which had become uncommon thanks to increased prevention measures.

According to a study carried out at Europe’s leading cancer centre, Gustave Roussy, this delay in patient care could translate into a 2% increase, at least, in cancer deaths in 5 years’ time. The Unicancer network of hospitals has confirmed the trend, estimating the number of additional cancer deaths due to treatment delays to be between 1,000 and 6,000.

As the public health situation continues to be challenged, it is essential that every step be taken to maintain cancer diagnosis and care.

Hospitals are empowered to do so. The French health ministry has given its “guarantee that cancer patients receive care in the best possible conditions” and the orders of health professionals are strongly urging all patients to continue to see their care providers, including general practitioners.

It is the responsibility of every child, parent, friend or employer of a cancer patient to help spread this vital message. I feel proud that AXA has long supported this effort through AXA Prévention, all the more so since people in France feel they are not well-informed about cancer (1). I am also proud that we are able to offer fully confidential medical, psychological and financial support to our insureds if they are ever faced with cancer or another critical illness (2).

In fact, major progress in the early detection of cancer was achieved in 2020.

• In March, a team of researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute developed a new blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer and their location in the body, with a high degree of accuracy.
• In July, an international team announced the development of a blood test that can detect five types of cancer (stomach, oesophagus, colon, lung and liver) in asymptomatic patients – sometimes as early as four years before a malignant tumour is diagnosed using conventional imaging techniques.

In addition, promising new treatments for paediatric brain cancer or breast cancer have been introduced, highlighting the progress being made toward precision medicine. Immunotherapy is also becoming increasingly widespread.

AXA also contributes to cancer research by supporting 23 cancer-related projects through the AXA Research Fund, including the AXA Chair in Molecular Oncology.

Let’s celebrate World Cancer Day by raising our collective sense of urgency and hope. We can all communicate about the essential need for cancer screening, for our own health or those of people close to us. And we can all, in our own way, support the critical contributions of scientific research.

(1) Observatoire du Cancer survey of 1,002 people aged 18 and over and published on September 9, 2019.

(2) Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, organ transplant, stroke, coronary disease and kidney failure requiring dialysis.