Cancer imaging continues to rebound across the healthcare landscape, but experts expect disruptions to continue into 2022, according to an editorial published Friday in RSNA’s Radiology: Imaging Cancer.
Amid widespread shutdowns in research and care delivery, radiologists responded by implementing social distancing rules, work-from-home policies and altered workflows. They’ve been rewarded with an at least partial recovery in screening levels, but industry leaders believe these impediments will persist for months, even with the arrival of vaccines.
“Despite mounting frustrations, the need for social distancing, limited sizes of gatherings, and masks will continue since SARS-CoV-2 clearly remains a threat,” journal Editor Gary Luker, MD, RSNA Scientific Editor Adeline Boettcher, PhD, and nearly a dozen other experts from the field wrote Jan. 22. “While true in essentially all aspects of life, COVID-19 will continue to hinder cancer imaging for years beyond the end of public masks and social distancing,” they added later.
The editorial is a follow-up to a popular Imaging Cancer piece published back in April, highlighting how providers were preparing for a forthcoming “surge” of postponed screenings last spring. For their work, Luker and colleagues once again asked experts in the field for their perspectives on the current state of affairs.
They discovered more of the same from eight months ago, with institutions continuing to work through their backlogs. Hiring freezes have strained these efforts and some institutions are experiencing two-month delays for available appointments.
Cancer imaging research, meanwhile, continues to experience substantial negative effects from the pandemic. The UK’s Institute for Cancer Research estimates that the novel coronavirus could delay advances in imaging science by 18 months. Regular resumption of clinical studies did not occur universally, the editorialists noted, and second and third waves halted work again in many instances. Downstream effects have also followed, they added, such as investigators limiting or delaying breeding of new research animals for fear of losing time and resources during further shutdowns.
“For many respondents, COVID-19 offered no new research opportunities and markedly detracted from existing projects. Delays in scientific progress in cancer imaging will be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to recover,” the authors noted.
While many of the same challenges continue months later, Luker et al. see positives stemming from these “immense negatives.” Cancer imaging professionals have gained valuable experience in videoconferencing and work-from-home technologies; they’ve tallied much less time commuting; and institutions have beefed up IT systems to improve data sharing. The heroic actions of frontline clinicians has also helped inspire a “Fauci effect,” with applications to medical schools swelling.
“As we stated in our first editorial, the actions taken during this pandemic have highlighted the collaborative efforts by clinicians and researchers alike,” the writers concluded. “As we enter 2021, clinics will continue to adapt to this pandemic to bring about the best patient care and will be innovative in determining ways to overcome the challenges faced in all aspects of cancer imaging during the last year.”
You can read the rest of the editorial in Imaging Cancer here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.