It’s believed thousands of Victorians are unknowingly living with cancer, after diagnoses dramatically fell below expected levels when COVID-19 hit.

A report from the Victorian Cancer Registry estimates 4.3 percent fewer cases were detected in 2021 than would have historically been expected.

Diagnoses also fell by seven per cent in 2020.

Due to lockdowns and behaviour changes, there are fears people have skipped cancer screenings they would have ordinarily attended.

New data estimates there are 3864 Victorians living with cancers that would have been discovered in 2020 and 2021 if it wasn’t for the pandemic and lockdowns.