CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Charlotte-area oncologist said he and other physicians are still playing catch-up with patients.

Closed offices, treatment deferrals and pandemic restrictions created a backlog of cancer care, which hospitals and clinics are still dealing with today.

“The screenings were reduced significantly, the facilities were mostly closed or at a reduced capacity, staffing was low. So we saw a significant deferral of breast cancer screenings,” said Dr. Tim Kuo, a medical oncologist for Novant Health.

What You Need To Know

  •  Delayed or canceled yearly screenings are still affecting cancer care

  •  Breast, colon, prostate and gynecological cancer diagnoses are most impacted by screening disruptions, a doctor says

  •  A Charlotte-area oncologist says the COVID-19 pandemic made permanent changes to cancer care

In addition to breast cancer, Kuo said a reduction in yearly screenings affected treatment of colon, prostate and gynecological cancers.

“Annual screening is a pattern or habit that you do, and I think once you get out of that habit then it gets hard to jump back into it,” Kuo said.

In the last year and a half, Kuo said the field took steps to catch up, including extended office hours, increased access to screenings and more public outreach.

“We’re not fully caught up, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job of getting nearly caught up,” Kuo added.

There is some silver lining — Kuo said the pandemic prioritized reaching out to the public and improving quick, quality access to cancer care.

“I think it’s also exposed the fact that we need to reach out more to underserved populations,” Kuo said. “Those were the populations that particularly were affected by the COVID pandemic.”

Seventeen years after starting his career in medical oncology, Kuo said the field does not look the same as it did in early 2020.

“I think this is a new normal," Kuo said. "I think that the workflow is the same, for the most part, but we do have procedures, policies that have changed.”

Enough data is not yet available to see how the pandemic affected fatality rates in cancers, or if deferred screenings led to major increases in late-stage cancer diagnoses, Kuo said.