A man stops to shoot a picture of a mural by artist Shane Grammer of late actor Chadwick Boseman’s character T’Challa from the 2018 film “Black Panther” in Los Angeles. Boseman’s death is a reminder of how important preventative care such as cancer screenings are, even during the current pandemic. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

The world was shocked with the recent death of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, who was just 43 years old.

Seeing such a public figure, especially one who was so young and known as a film superhero, lose their real-life battle shows that cancer can affect anyone, regardless of age, and does not discriminate.

In 2020, an estimated 147,950 adults in the United States will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. These numbers include 104,610 new cases of colon cancer (52,340 men and 52,270 women) and 43,340 new cases of rectal cancer (25,960 men and 17,380 women).

It is estimated that 53,200 deaths (28,630 men and 24,570 women) will be attributed to colorectal cancer in 2020, and colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States for men and women combined.

Screening is essential

A jolt like the death of a talented young man like Boseman, who had been battling colon cancer for four years, reminds us all of the importance of being vigilant in our testing for this deadly disease.

But in 2020, as we work around the dangers presented by the COVID-19 pandemic — with people advised to stay home to avoid spreading the virus — cancer screening is not happening at the level it needs to occur.

Recent studies have found that in 2020, cervical, breast and colorectal cancer screenings all dropped more than 85 percent compared to the 2017 to 2019 averages for these type of screenings.

A real effort must be made to get people back into clinics for these critical preventative tests. If testing does not get back to the rates it is needed, we are setting ourselves up for a spike in cancer cases in the months and years ahead.

For those choosing to skip cancer screenings due to COVID concerns, Michael Sapienza, CEO of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, says visiting an endoscopy suite “is actually safer than visiting your local grocery store.”

LGBTQ cancer concerns

The need for screening gains extra urgency in the LGBTQ population, as many segments of the LGBT community are disproportionately affected by certain types of cancer — including lung cancer, anal cancer, breast cancer and skin cancer.

The stark numbers on cancer treatment and survivor rates for the LGBTQ population are also impacted by discrimination and a lack of understanding by some health-care providers. If patients are not comfortable going to their doctor, they are less likely to detect cancer in time for successful treatment to occur.

Groups like the LGBT Cancer Network work hard to identify LGBT-friendly medical providers, and are worth consulting if you have concerns in this area.

Ramping up testing efforts

At Corktown Health Center, we are serious about stepping up our efforts to get more people on board with the screening needed for early detection and treatment of colorectal and other types of cancer.

We are partnering with the American Cancer Society to achieve this goal. Based on risk, we will recommend screening, which could be a colonoscopy or an at-home test.

In a similar vein, our team works to combat breast and cervical cancer by encouraging routine cervical screening during gynecological exams, and partnering with a “mammogram van” that visits our clinic on a regular basis.

These types of partnerships and services can help women and transgender individuals get the screenings they need to prevent them from letting cancer go undetected.

It’s understandable that people are nervous about getting cancer screenings — between COVID-19 concerns, and worries about what they might find.

Without the proper testing, you’re more likely to not know about a cancer diagnosis until it’s too late to get the best result from treatment. So if a screening is recommended by your physician, it’s unquestionably worth masking up to get the test done.

Dr. Latonya Riddle-Jones is medical director at Corktown Health Center in Detroit, and an assistant professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Wayne State University School of Medicine. Corktown Health Center is the only health clinic in Michigan focused on the needs of LGBTQ patients. Visit corktownhealth.org.