People’s willingness to accept overdetection in cancer screening

In cancer screening, overdetection is defined as the detection of a cancerous lesion through screening that would otherwise not have caused any symptoms or early death.

It is considered the most harmful effect of cancer screening as it unnecessarily labels people as “cancer patients,” leads to treatments causing harm but no benefit, and diverts healthcare activity from patients who genuinely need it.

In this research the authors set out to describe the level of overdetection people would find acceptable in screening for breast, prostate, and bowel cancer and whether acceptability is influenced by the magnitude of the benefit from screening and the cancer specific harms from overdetection.

They conclude that acceptability of overdetection in cancer screening is variable. Invitations for screening should include clear information on the likelihood and consequences of overdetection to allow people to make an informed choice.

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