Dr. Osarogiagbon on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Lung Cancer Screening

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, FACP, chief scientist, Baptist Memorial Health Care, director, Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program, Thoracic Oncology Research Group, Baptist Cancer Center, discusses the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung cancer screenings.

In the early months of the pandemic, restrictions prevented patients from gaining the usual access to health-care providers, Osarogiagbon says. Along with social distance and quarantine guidelines, health-care facilities reprioritized to address the immediate needs associated with COVID-19, Osarogiagbon adds.

Within his own institution, Osarogiagbon notes lung cancer screening was suspended for months. Now, patients who may have been candidates for screening in the past are presenting with advanced lung cancer, including patients were considered low risk but were unable to get screened, Osarogiagbon concludes.