Pandemic caused cancer to go undetected, says specialist

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HUDSON VALLEY – Patients are being diagnosed with advanced forms of cancer due to lack of early screening, says a Hudson Valley cancer specialist.  Dr. Ram Kancherla said that many new patients have advanced stages of cancer because they did not seek medical advice during the height of the pandemic.

Dr. Kancherla has been treating cancer patients for 20 years and is the managing partner of Hudson Valley Cancer Center with multiple locations in the Hudson Valley.  “We never stopped seeing patients, and our practice never closed its doors,” said Kancherla, who is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology.

“Because of COVID, people put off their routine screenings, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, pap smears, and even their annual physicals.   This has resulted in more patients with more advanced cancer – cancer that went undiagnosed and could have been caught much earlier or prevented altogether,” said Kancherla.

The doctor is encouraging people who stayed away from their health care providers during the pandemic to make an appointment and get back to their doctor. He also recommends that his patients get vaccinated against COVID-19.




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