SURVIVAL RATES FOR cancer patients in Ireland held firm during the Covid-19 pandemic, with no clear rise in late-stage diagnoses or deaths, according to data from the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI).

The NCRI report tracked cancer diagnoses, stage at detection, mortality and one-year survival from the start of the pandemic through 2022.

While the number of new diagnoses fell sharply by 27% in spring 2020, particularly for breast, colorectal, prostate and lung cancers, services were quickly reconfigured.

Cancer diagnosis levels had also returned to expected levels by 2022, the report found.

There was no consistent increase in late-stage cancers following the pandemic, and survival rates for all cancer types in 2020 and 2021 were in line with previous years.

Slight increases in deaths over the period matched expected demographic trends rather than pandemic-related delays.

Professor Deirdre Murray, NCRI director, said the findings provide reassurance for patients and families.

“Some may have feared, for example, that the pause in screening programmes, and the fact that all GP appointments were now phone calls rather than face-to-face visits, would lead to a sharp rise in late-stage diagnoses, cancers that had progressed, post-pandemic,” Murray said.

“There is, however, no evidence of this in the data.”

The registry will continue monitoring trends to detect any delayed effects that may arise in the future.