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Assessing the evidence for organised cancer screening programmes
L Madlensky1, V Goel, J Polzer
1Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Canada.
European Journal of Cancer (Oxford, England : 1990)
|July 31, 2003
Summary
This review found limited evidence evaluating organized cancer screening programs. More research is needed to compare organized screening effectiveness against opportunistic screening for better cancer detection outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Public Health
- Evidence-Based Medicine
Background:
- Organized cancer screening programs aim to detect cancer early.
- Existing literature often describes these programs rather than evaluating their impact.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the existing literature on organized cancer screening programs.
- To identify gaps in the evidence regarding their effectiveness.
Main Methods:
- A Medline search was conducted for publications on organized cancer screening programs and their components.
- Literature review focused on studies evaluating program impact and specific components.
Main Results:
- A substantial body of literature exists, but few studies evaluate the overall impact of organized cancer screening.
- Most evidence comes from Scandinavian cervical and breast cancer screening programs.
- Moderate literature exists on specific components like quality control and recruitment.
Conclusions:
- There is a need for more research directly comparing organized cancer screening with opportunistic screening.
- Current studies often describe programs or evaluate components in isolation, not the whole program's effectiveness.