The Risks of Cancer Screenings

The way cancer is tackled in America may be changing. The American Cancer Society is shifting its official platform on cancer screening on the basis that it might pose just as many risks as benefits. “We don’t want people to panic,” said one expert. “American medicine has overpromised when it comes to screening. The advantages to screening have been exaggerated.” In a nutshell, the shift in policy is based on the concept that screening can come at the risk of over-treating insignificant cancers while overlooking deadly ones. The Society’s policy reassessment was influenced by a Journal of the American Medical Association report on Wednesday that claims breast cancer has risen 40 percent and early-stage cancers have almost doubled, while cancers that have spread to other places in the body have only declined 10 percent. The American Cancer Society and researchers are not necessarily recommending that patients opt out of cancer screenings, but rather that they receive information about the risks and benefits.