Cancer detection has fallen dramatically during the pandemic, worrying experts

During the pandemic, cancer detection has dropped, a worrying trend that leads to delayed diagnoses and more severe outcomes for patients, according to experts.

Last May, the 35-year-old mother of two found a lump in her right breast the size of a toonie.

But it took six long months to get tests, a diagnosis and finally surgery in December to remove the aggressive cancer.

“It had grown twice the size and the scarring is a lot bigger than it probably could have been if I had caught it earlier,” Deans told CTV News.

She said that it grew minutely every month, and that it was five centimetres in size when it was finally removed.