Language
English
Publication Date
2-1-2023
Journal
Preventive Medicine
DOI
10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107395
PMID
36565859
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
The goal of cancer screening guidelines is to inform health practitioners to practice evidence-based cancer prevention. Cancer screening aims to detect treatable precancerous lesions or early-stage disease to enable actions aimed at decreasing morbidity and mortality. Continuous assessment of the available evidence for or against screening interventions by various organizations often results in conflicting recommendations and create challenges for providers and policymakers. Here we have summarized the current cancer screening recommendations by five leading organizations in North America and Europe: the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query (PDQ), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC), the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), and the UK National Screening Committee for the National Health Service (UK NSC). All organizations assess evidence based on strength, quality, and quantity, and recommendations are similar although with differences with respect to screening start and stop ages. Recommendations are consistent for colorectal cancer screening with fecal occult blood test or fecal immunochemical test, cervical cancer screening with Pap-test, HPV-test, or co-testing, and breast cancer screening with mammography. However, guidelines vary with respect to age to start and end screening and testing frequency. Tests that have proven to be inefficient or whose use is capable of causing harm are routinely recommended against. Continuous review of screening guidelines is necessary to evaluate the many promising screening tests currently under investigation.
Keywords
Female, Humans, Early Detection of Cancer, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, State Medicine, Mass Screening, Canada, Systematic Reviews as Topic
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Rintala, Suvi; Dahlstrom, Kristina R; Franco, Eduardo L; et al., "A Synthesis of Evidence for Cancer-Specific Screening Interventions: A Preventive Medicine Golden Jubilee Review" (2023). Faculty and Staff Publications. 4412.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/4412