Screening – benefits or harms?

FORUM Screening : Balancing the Benefits and Harms

idea of screening is seductive—isn't it always better to find things early, rather than late? Screening, defined as testing for a condition when the person has no recognized signs or symptoms of that condition, is widespread and popular. Patients often want screening tests done and clinicians, for a variety of reasons, want to provide them. The purpose of screening , however, is not only to det...

The harms and benefits of modern screening mammography.

18 June 2014 It is difficult to understand why Drs. Elmore and Harris, two professors of medicine, are so much against early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in its early stages. They are commenting on mammography screening, but the real issue is early detection of the disease. They propose women not be diagnosed early because there is access to very expensive chemotherapy treatment wit...

The benefits and harms of breast cancer screening.

The Independent UK Panel on Breast Cancer Screening (Nov 17, p 1778) estimates that one woman will avoid dying from breast cancer for every three women who are overdiagnosed. This estimate is far too positive, and the panel did not pay attention to important issues in the testimony we submitted to it in February, 2012. The panel used the data from our Cochrane review, but did not consider it im...

Effects of mammography screening under different screening schedules: model estimates of potential benefits and harms.

BACKGROUND Despite trials of mammography and widespread use, optimal screening policy is controversial. OBJECTIVE To evaluate U.S. breast cancer screening strategies. DESIGN 6 models using common data elements. DATA SOURCES National data on age-specific incidence, competing mortality, mammography characteristics, and treatment effects. TARGET POPULATION A contemporary population cohort....

Thiazolidinediones: do harms outweigh benefits?