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Thousands of Victorians are likely to be living with undiagnosed cancer, according to new data, with a record number of people having missed health checks during COVID-19 lockdowns.
New data from the Victorian Cancer Registry has estimated that at least 6660 Victorians could be living with undiagnosed cancer, or are at risk of death or poorer outcomes due to late discovery of the disease.
The finding, driven by Victoria's ageing and growing population, comes after cancer rates were expected to rise last year, but took an unexpected nose dive instead.
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Melbourne mother Tahli Batkilin is one of many Victorians who have had a close call with the disease.
At the height of the COVID-19 in late 2020, Batkilin attempted to see a doctor for shortness of breath and a cough.
"Because it was a Covid symptom, she refused to see me basically," she told 9News.
"She said it's probably just seasonal asthma, and to have some ventolin."
After seeing another GP, she was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma.
"If I didn't push for that chest X-ray, I probably wouldn't be here," she said.
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The new data estimates that thousands of Victorians could now unknowingly be living with bowel, breast and lung cancers, and melanoma.
The missing diagnoses are thought to be because of the continued interruption of COVID-19 lockdowns on the health system, which led fewer Victorians to undergo screening and assessments.
Experts are now bracing to see more advanced tumours, particularly in bowel cancer.
Doctors are now urging people to make use of free screening tests.
"People have felt rather than being a burden they would not present to their health professionals on things we would have liked them to have presented with," Professor Sue Evans from the Victorian Cancer Registry said.
Because of improvements in detection and treatment, the five-year survival rate for all cancers in Victoria is now above 70 per cent for both men and women.
Batkilin is now cancer-free.
"If you don't push for yourself, no one else is going to do it for you," she said.
