Neuro-Oncology: [Correspondence] Addressing overdiagnosis and overtreatment in cancer

Thursday, July 3, 2014

[Correspondence] Addressing overdiagnosis and overtreatment in cancer

The Lancet Oncology

Mass screening for solid cancers or precancerous lesions is based on the belief that if cancers can be found early—ie, before presentation with clinical symptoms—therapy is more likely to be successful. Unfortunately, screening can also sometimes lead to the discovery of lesions that pathologists call cancer, but these diagnoses are too early—ie, they are lesions that would never progress to clinically apparent disease if simply left alone. Aggressive treatment of these lesions is the major source of patient harm that can be attributed to cancer screening, producing diagnosis survivors who are mistakenly regarded as cancer survivors.

Original Article: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(14)70247-5/fulltext?rss=yes