Cancer screening: when does testing go too far?

The heated debate on prostate cancer screening boils down to one question: should men be routinely screened?

Two recent position statements from the UK’s national screening committee published in the BMJ show that screening decisions are steeped in complexity. 

The benefits of screening may be easier to grasp, but the harms of overdiagnosis and overtreatment are given less attention. Can we close the divide between the public and academic discourse?

Guest: Sian Taylor-Phillips is professor of population health at the University of Warwick and a member of the UK national screening committee.

Further Reading:

• UK National Screening Committee position statement on surrogate outcomes in cancer screening trials
• Prostate cancer screening: Committee rejects calls for mass testing programme despite pressure

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