"There is no data that the mortality rate has fallen due to cancer screening," researchers announced

ByPan American Health Organization - PAHO

Cancer has been a Japanese since 1981First place of deathIt continues to reign, reputation as a very terrible disease. Early detection and early treatment are regarded as important to prevent cancer deaths, and some people visit cancer every year for early detection. There is cancer checkup to find cancer early and reduce mortality rate, but Associate Professor Vinay Prasad of Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine announced that there is no evidence that cancer examination affected mortality rate, I am calling a big debate.

Why cancer screening has never been shown "save lives" -and what we can do about it | The BMJ
http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.h6080

Associate Professor Prasad, who conducted a survey on cancer screening, the cancer mortality rate has declined due to cancer screening is a patient already suffering from certain cancers such as lung cancer, and the general mortality rate is breast cancer · colon cancer - There is no data that it decreased even after the screening method of prostate cancer was established. In other words, cancer screening may lower the mortality rate of patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer, but it is not yet possible to lower the death rate of others.

ByWellcome Images

Associate Professor Prasad also clarifies risks arising from cancer screening. For example, test for prostate cancer measuring prostate specific antigen "PSA inspection"There are many examples that were originally negative but judged as positive, and we received a" prostate biopsy "that is essentially unnecessary but despite puncturing a special needle in the prostate and harvesting the tissue It is said that there are many patients. Because prostate biopsy punctures many needles into the prostate, it often develops mild complications such as rectal bleeding, hemia semen and hematuria. In addition, some male patients diagnosed with prostate cancer have deaths due to complications due to cancer treatment, such as having a heart attack or suicide.

According to Prasad's associate professor, about 68% of females believe that "mammogram radiography reduces the risk of developing breast cancer", 62% believe that "the cancer incidence rate is cut by half in cancer screening" Approximately 75% of respondents said that they thought that "a 10-year cancer screening saves ten people per 1000 females from breast cancer death." According to Prasad Associate Professor, no matter how sweetly estimated the cancer screening data, it does not become the above-mentioned value, and it highlights the large number of women who got excessive confidence in cancer screening.

ByCaitlin Regan

As data showing ineffectiveness of cancer screening gathers attention in the medical community, the National Medical Council of Switzerland launched a policy not recommending breast cancer screening every year. In the United States, the standard frequency of cervical cancer screening has been changed to once every 2 years or more, not every year.

Associate Professor Prasad said, "Cancer screening will be useful only for those who are deemed necessary from the medical history, should receive the benefits and disadvantages of the screening properly to the patient, and should be accepted by anyone I am warning against receiving cancer screening easily. "

In order to lower the cancer death rate, it is necessary to develop therapy and improve the technology, but it takes a long time to develop new therapies and techniques. Considering this, there is no doubt that it is important to have cancer diagnosis that can lead to treatment from early detection. However, also in Japan's medical communityNecessity and danger of cancer screeningTo sueAn expertIt is also a fact that there is, there is a possibility that discussion about cancer screening will be advanced in the future.