Cancer Research Funding Slashed Due to Coronavirus –Huge Setback Just As The Oncology Treatment Revolution Begins to Save Lives

The charity admitted to The Daily Telegraph that the impact of this pandemic could “set back the cancer research effort within the U.K potentially for many years,” but the disruption in cancer research is proving to be a world-wide issue.

Researchers told SurvivorNet that new clinical trials in the United States may be paused due to restrictions in place during Covid-19.

"How can you think about putting people on trials when you don't have a staff?" Dr. Roy Herbst, Chief of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center and and Smilow Cancer Hospital, tells SurvivorNet. "You don't want your patients to go to the hospital too much because you don't want them or the clinical staff to be exposed. It's not a great time to start new trials."

The virus has forced elective surgeries to be delayed, hospital visits to be postponed, and some treatments may be paused in order to keep patients and staff safe. Now, physicians are facing an impossible decision in determining the best care for cancer patients while juggling the increasing number of Covid-19 patients.

“A lot of our resources are really being diverted towards taking care of [Covid-19] patients,” Dr. Brendon Stiles, a thoracic surgeon at Weill-Cornell Medical Center, explains to SurvivorNet. “We’re doing everything we can to make sure that our cancer patients get cared for in an appropriate fashion during that time as well. But obviously there’s logistical challenges as the hospital is really overwhelmed with patients sick from the virus.”

Developing treatments for cancer patients may be disrupted, by physicians assured SurvivorNet that participants in existing trials will still be monitored and patients who need surgeries immediately will receive treatment.

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