Hit reset on cancer screening: 'Tests not perfect'

Hit reset on cancer screening: 'Tests not perfect'

WASHINGTON (AP) ---- It turns out that catching cancer early isn't always as important as we thought.




Now cancer specialists are struggling to find a new balance: to quit over-promising the power of early detection and to help people understand that the tests themselves have risks ---- while not scaring away those who really need it.

Least controversial are cervical and colorectal cancer screenings. They can spot pre-cancerous growths that are fairly easy to remove, although even some of those tests can be used too frequently. More serious questions surround other cancers ---- like which men, if any, should get a PSA blood test to check for prostate cancer, and whether women should start mammograms in their 40s or wait until they're 50.

Also in question is whether doctors will be able to head off another looming controversy: Just which smokers and ex-smokers should get a pricey CT scan that can detect lung cancer, but also is prone to false alarms? A recent study found the scans could save some lives. But guidelines aren't due out until early next year that would decide who is at enough risk to outweigh the test's potential harm ---- such as a risky, invasive biopsy to tell whether a suspicious spot is cancer or just an old smoking scar.

Yet already people like Fred Voss, 80, of Sunderland, Md., are seeking out the tests.




So if you're 40 and have several risk factors ---- like dense breasts and close relatives with the disease ---- then you have the same risk as an average 50-year-old, not an average 40-year-old, and might consider earlier mammograms, Mandelblatt says. Few primary-care doctors have the time to go into that kind of detail.


