Research by the health data firm Komodo Health and exclusively shared with Reuters found new colorectal cancer diagnoses declined more than 32%, while the number of performed colonoscopies and biopsies fell by nearly 90% from mid-March to mid-April, compared with the same period last year.

Colorectal cancer surgeries were down by 53%.

The drop in surgeries suggests many patients who were newly diagnosed with colon cancer postponed procedures, enhancing their risk that the cancer could progress as the shelter-in-place orders that swept the nation in March shuttered health facilities and as patients avoided in-person appointments due to fear of contracting the virus.

Komodo worked jointly with Fight Colorectal Cancer, a colorectal cancer advocacy and research organization, which surveyed 222 patients about their care during the pandemic.

For patients with a family history of aggressive colorectal cancer, delayed or canceled appointments are especially worrisome.

Patients in rural communities more often faced disrupted cancer treatments (14% of rural patients versus 2.7% in urban areas) and required more financial support (36% rural versus 18% in suburban areas), the report found.