Dr Felicity Lamrock
Cancer in the COVID era – screening, recovery, and data analytics

Cancer screening is a critical component of our armamentarium against
cancer, facilitating identification of those at risk of developing the disease at the earliest stage, and informing effective health management of the newly-identified patient when cancer is at its most vulnerable.

Striving for optimal health, resource utilisation is particularly relevant in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, with COVID-19-repurposing of our
health service leading to unintended de-prioritisation of non-COVID-related activities, including cancer screening.

The rapid reconfiguration in healthcare in response to the COVID-19
pandemic and a desire to mitigate infection risk, has already profoundly affected cancer care; a 29% reduction in cancer survival has been predicted 

Cost-effectiveness analysis must be included in any screening model, to ensure the best use of often-limited resources and deliver sustainable solutions. In addition to this, developing robust COVID-era cancer screening requires new, more precise data-enabled modelling approaches, which will have relevance locally, nationally and globally. 

The research team is building innovative robust   models that investigate the complex interplay   between cancer development, cancer screening   methodologies, health economics and health service   implementation, evaluated within several scenarios   that mimic different degrees of the adverse impact   of COVID-19 on cancer screening, This iterative   research will permit the derivation of the most   optimal robust models for cost-effective cancer   screening, both during and after the COVID-19   pandemic.