COMMENTARY
The Benefits and Harms of Cancer Screening
In the United States, we are bombarded with information on cancer screening. Radio advertisements try to lure people to clinics by touting the benefits of lung cancer screening. Some cancer advocacy groups encourage prostate or breast cancer screening. And the media emphasizes the benefits of screening. But many people do not understand the complexity of cancer screening. Read more >>
A Conversation with Dr. Virginia Moyer, Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) generates evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services, including cancer screening. The chair of the USPSTF spoke with the NCI Cancer Bulletin about the task force's mandate, challenges, and lessons learned.
FEATURES
Crunching Numbers: What Cancer Screening Statistics Really Tell Us
Even doctors find it difficult to evaluate whether cancer screening tests save livesUsing an Ocean of Data, Researchers Model Real-Life Benefits of Cancer Screening
NCI-sponsored CISNET researchers aim to translate results from cancer screening trials to real-world practiceAfter Landmark Study, Exploring Questions about Lung Cancer Screening
Questions include who should be screened and how to follow upBuilding a Better Cancer Screening Process
Study could show where in cancer screening process disparities ariseAll That Glitters: A Glimpse into the Future of Cancer Screening
Researchers are using a range of approaches to develop the next generation of screening testsSelected Resources: Cancer Screening
MULTIMEDIA
Inside NCI: Dr. Barry Kramer on Cancer Screening
The director of NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention and editor-in-chief of NCI's Physician Data Query Screening and Prevention Editorial Board talks about the types of effective cancer screening tests available and the risks that are sometimes associated with cancer screening.
Go to Video
Questions to Ask Your Doctor about Cancer Screening
Drs. Lisa Schwartz and Steven Woloshin discuss the benefits and harms of cancer screening and highlight popular misconceptions about cancer screening statistics.
Click to Listen Type: (MP3) | Time 6:09 | Size: 7.3 MB | Read Transcript
Infographic: Benefits and Harms of PSA Screening for Prostate Cancer
An infographic depicting the screening test’s potential benefits and harms, based on estimates from two large prostate cancer screening trials
NEWSSUPPLEMENT TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE
Decades of Data Point to Overdiagnosis from Breast Cancer Screening
Since the 1970s, more than 1 million U.S. women may have been diagnosed unnecessarilyAfter Negative Colonoscopy, Rescreening with Other Tests May Be Effective
Model shows less-invasive tests yield same life expectancy as colonoscopy, cause fewer complications at lower costLonger Delays in Breast Cancer Treatment May Affect Survival
Findings from two studies may be used to develop quality measuresFusion Gene Linked to Rare Form of Childhood Leukemia
Testing for gene can identify patients with subtype of acute megakaryoblastic leukemiaAlternative Type of Brachytherapy Proves Effective in Mice
Infusible liquid may avoid some drawbacks of conventional brachytherapy
UPDATESSUPPLEMENT TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE
HHS Update
- Launch of New Online Resource: BeTobaccoFree.gov
CDC Update
- New Statistics on Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality Show Disparities, Opportunities
Notes
- NCI's Steven Rosenberg Awarded Keio Medical Science Prize
- NCI Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials Will Meet Friday
- AccrualNet Website Gets New Look
A MESSAGE TO READERS
NCI Cancer Bulletin Special Issues
This issue of the NCI Cancer Bulletin focuses on the science behind cancer screening. Other recent special issues have covered diverse research topics, including oncology nursing, obesity and cancer research, and adolescent and young adult cancers.
To read other special issues, please visit the special issues archive.
Selected articles from past issues of the NCI Cancer Bulletin are available in Spanish.
The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which was established in 1937. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases.
For more information about cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov.
NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.
