Medical screening tests lead to significant overdiagnosis and overtreatment
Medical screening tests frequently lead to the detection of indolent, non-lethal conditions, resulting in significant overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment across various cancers such as prostate, breast, thyroid, and lung.
The retrieved papers consistently emphasize that medical screening programs for various cancers (prostate, breast, thyroid, lung) inherently detect slow-growing or indolent abnormalities that would never have caused symptoms or death during a patient's lifetime. Multiple high-quality studies and professional guidelines recognize overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment as major harms of screening.
US Preventive Services Task Force, David C. Grossman, Susan J. Curry, Douglas K Owens, Kirsten Bibbins‐Domingo, Aaron B. Caughey, Karina W. Davidson, Chyke A. Doubeni, Mark H. Ebell, John W. Epling, Alex R. Kemper, Alex H. Krist, Martha Kubik, C. Seth Landefeld, Carol M. Mangione, Michael Silverstein, Melissa A. Simon, Albert L. Siu, Chien‐Wen Tseng. Screening for Prostate Cancer. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.3710
The USPSTF screening guidelines explicitly note that prostate cancer screening frequently leads to overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment.
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The Independent UK Panel on Breast Cancer Screening, Michael Marmot, Douglas G. Altman, David Cameron, J A Dewar, Simon G. Thompson, M Wilcox. The benefits and harms of breast cancer screening: an independent review. 2013. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2013.177
A comprehensive independent review of breast cancer screening highlights overdiagnosis as a major harm, noting that many screen-detected cancers would not have become clinically apparent.
Chris H. Bangma, S. Roemeling, F.H. Schröder. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of early detected prostate cancer. 2007. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-007-0145-z
Early detection of prostate cancer frequently identifies indolent tumors, leading to the primary threat of overtreatment.
Sabrina Jegerlehner, Jean‐Luc Bulliard, Drahomir Aujesky, Nicolas Rodondi, Simon Germann, Isabelle Konzelmann, Arnaud Chioléro, NICER Working Group. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of thyroid cancer: A population-based temporal trend study. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179387
A population-based study on thyroid cancer demonstrates that rising early-stage incidence with stable mortality strongly reflects significant overdiagnosis and resulting overtreatment.
Wu YJ, Hung YC, Tang EK, Wu FZ. Practical Strategy to Mitigate Overdiagnosis in Asian Low-dose Computed Tomography Lung Cancer Screening.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2025.09.044
Low-dose CT screening for lung cancer reduces mortality but risks substantial overdiagnosis and overtreatment, particularly among populations with subsolid nodules.
Hung YC, Wu YJ, Wu FZ. East-West Disparities in Lung Cancer Screening: Subsolid Nodule Prevalence, Interval Growth, and Decision-Making Analysis.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics16101442
Overdiagnosis remains a critical concern in lung cancer screening across both Eastern and Western clinical contexts.
Brancaccio M, Galdieri A, Cosenza A, Barletta F, Scilipoti P, Quarta L, Zaurito P, Santangelo A, Viti A, Occhi A, Porzi ME, Colistro A, Roca G, Scuderi S, Cucchiara V, Stabile A, Montorsi F, Briganti A, Gandaglia G. Prostate Cancer Screening in Contemporary Era: PSA-Based Testing and Risk-Adapted Approaches.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18101547
Prostate cancer screening utilizing traditional PSA testing has historically been limited by substantial downstream overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
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