Are Cancer Centers Pushing Too Many Tests?

Studies have found that centers provide incomplete or unbalanced information, which can lead to unnecessary screenings and health complications in older adults.< /p>

Let's say a postcard arrives in the mail, a reminder to schedule a mammogram. Or a primary care doctor orders a PSA test to screen a man for prostate cancer, or tells him that because of his years of smoking he should be screened for lung cancer.

These patients, trying to be informed customers, can search online for a cancer center to learn more about screening, when it is recommended and for whom.

This may not be the best move. Medical societies and the Independent Task Force on Preventive Services in the United States publish guidelines on who should be screened for lung, prostate and breast cancer and how often, among many other recommendations of prevention. But cancer center websites often deviate from these recommendations, according to three studies recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers found that some sites discuss the benefits screening but said little about the harms and risks. Some offered recommendations on when to start screening, but glossed over when to stop - important information for older adults.

"If we recognize that these websites are important sources of information, based on screening according to guidelines, we can still improve,” said Dr. Behfar Ehdaie, urologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and author of the report. prostate cancer screening recommendations study.

Screening refers to testing for patients with no symptoms or signs of disease, including testing prostate-specific antigen testing, mammograms, colonoscopies, and CT scans.

Researchers analyzed more than 600 cancer center websites that provided recommendations for screening for p rostate and found that more than a quarter recommended that all men be screened. More than three-quarters did not specify an age at which to stop routine testing.

Yet guidelines from the Preventive Services Task Force and the American Urological Association states that men over 70 should not be routinely screened because, according to the task force guidelines, "the potential benefits do not outweigh the expected harms." p>

For men ages 55-69, both groups require individual decisions after discussion with a clinician about benefits and harms. However, neither group recommends routine screening for young men at average risk. oncology did not include information on potential harm. screening. Because prostate cancer grows slowly, it often causes no problems. But detection and treatment can lead to complications with surgery or radiation therapy, including reduced quality of life due to incontinence and sexual dysfunction.