(Newswire.net — August 20, 2020) — 2020 came and seemingly turned the world on its head, with many countries having to enforce lockdowns and life as we know it changed for the foreseeable future. While working from home and days off school seemed reasonable at first, the knock-on effect the COVID19 pandemic has had for medical treatments and social bonds is still being felt and it’ll take many months or even several years to get back to full strength in regards to economy and comfort around others.
The Effect of the Pandemic
There are many areas that have felt the dreaded impact of the pandemic, including a large number of trade companies and hospitality centres that have been forced to close doors or have gone into administration. Sadly, many hospitals have also felt a huge impact, having to focus all their staff and medical technology on curing those who have been affected by the coronavirus and pushing other treatments forward in time. This has caused quite a large backlog of cancer patients awaiting treatments, in hospitals and medical centres all around the world. For some people, they can afford the time to wait until they start their treatment however, cancer can be fast-mutating and in certain cases can rapidly spread around the body, meaning time is one of the most crucial factors when it comes to cancer treatment.
Fortunately, some areas have been lucky enough to have private cancer centres step up to help ease the backlog, welcoming those receiving treatments via national health services to pick up, continue or start their treatment in their centres. Other hospitals have sped up their access to certain highly targeted treatments such as SABR (stereotactic ablative radiotherapy) which will help to reduce the number of treatments individual patients require, speeding up their journey through their cancer plan. In the UK, the NHS has also funded the use of several ‘chemotherapy buses’. With space to treat up to four patients at a time, these buses are convenient for patients whose immune system is at higher risk than someone not receiving treatment and ensure patients can still receive regular treatments away from risky hospital spaces.
How Can Hospitals and Centres Ease the Backlog
In addition to accelerating the use of treatments such as SABR, where possible, treatments such as proton beam therapy can help to speed up a patient’s journey through their cancer treatment plan. Proton beam therapy is an advanced form of external radiotherapy that uses protons, rather than photons (x-ray particles) to treat cancerous tumours. Protons can have their energy levels set using an energy selector system to only penetrate to a certain depth during treatment. When used in combination with pencil-beam scanning, this can provide highly accurate treatments that are particularly effective for treating cancers in children or adult cancers located in sensitive areas.
An additional benefit of proton beam therapy and it’s highly targeted nature is a noticeable reduction in the severity of experienced side effects such as fatigue, nausea and skin reactions. It needs to be stated that proton beam therapy is not more effective than conventional radiotherapy and in extensive tests has a similar cure rate. However, proton beam therapy could be a greatly preferred treatment when cancers occur in highly sensitive areas such as head and neck cancers, prostate cancers and spinal or lung cancers. These areas can be sensitive to the effects of radiation and lead to further side effects or late-term side effects.
The effects of this ongoing pandemic are going to be felt for years but it’s important we remain strong as a society and continue to support those in need around us, especially those working long-hours in healthcare to ensure all of us have a safe and healthy future ahead.