The coronavirus pandemic has seen more people taking chest CT scans and greater detection of early stage lung cancer, surgeon Igor Khatkov, the first-ever Russian Honorary Fellow of the American Surgical Association, told RT.
In an interview to RT shortly after receiving the honor, Prof. Khatkov spoke about how the ongoing coronavirus pandemic led to higher rates of lung cancer diagnosis.
He said that normally people are reluctant to go for check-ups, but the coronavirus pandemic changed this. He explained that as more people started to come in for chest CT scans, the screening to detect pneumonia caused by the virus, health care workers started to identify more cases of cancerous growth in the lungs, and often at early stages.
Also on rt.com Cancer patients have little protection against Covid after receiving one dose of Pfizer jab, UK study says“One of the biggest problems is that people don’t want to get tested. When they’re healthy, they ignore recommendations for regular check-ups. If they start feeling unwell, they usually ignore the symptoms and only seek medical help when the pain and suffering become unbearable,” he said.
Prof. Khatkov added that doctors now have the technology to nip cancer in the bud, if only people complied with the recommendations.
Igor Khatkov was officially proclaimed Honorary Fellow of the American Surgical Association, the country's oldest and most prestigious organization of surgeons, on Thursday.
The American Surgical Association (ASA) was founded in 1880 and is the oldest and most prestigious organization of surgeons in the US. It confers the Honorary Fellowship only upon “distinguished foreign surgeons whose contributions to surgery have been unusually noteworthy, of lasting value and worthy of the highest international recognition.”
Professor Khatkov is a pioneering cancer laparoscopic surgeon who developed several minimally invasive surgical procedures, and Moscow's chief oncologist. He was nominated for the title by his international colleagues, and his candidacy was unanimously approved by the organization's council last year.
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