TOKYO: The number of people who underwent screening tests for five types of cancer in 2021 was around 10.3 percent lower than in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey by the Japan Cancer Society showed Monday.

The survey showed that a total of 5,376,513 people underwent testing for stomach, lung, bowel, breast and cervical cancers in the country in 2021, up some 23.5 percent from 2020.

The 2021 result suggests many people continued to refrain from cancer tests amid the spread of COVID-19, while screenings were limited due to squeezes on medical systems.

Screening tests for stomach cancer dropped about 13.2 percent from 2019, the biggest decrease among the five cancer types, followed by those for lung cancer and breast cancer, down around 11.0 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively.

Tests for all five types showed declines in the summer, when Japan was facing its fifth wave of COVID-19 infections, but monthly figures rebounded to levels nearly equal to those in 2019 by autumn.

As a result of the decrease in screenings, cancers in around 600 people were possibly left undiscovered in 2021, the society said.

“We believe some people refrained from undergoing screenings in both 2020 and 2021,” Hiroshi Konishi, project director at the society, said. “We hope such people get tested this year, as about 60 percent of cancer cases found in tests are in early stages in which patients have high chances of recovering.”

In February and March, the survey covered the society’s 42 branches across the country that are commissioned by local municipalities to conduct cancer screenings for residents. Of them, 33 branches gave responses.

JIJI Press