Recommendations for cancer screening are under review
Monday, December 28, 2009 - 13:56
in Health & Medicine
Ideas about who should be screened and how often vary widely among physicians and agencies. You'd think there could be no downside to widespread screening for cancer. But that's not always the case. Studies on Pap smears, for example, show that atypical cells can disappear if they're left alone, while interventions can cause scarring and interfere with later fertility. And many prostate cancers are so slow-growing that they won't affect a man's health, whereas cancer treatments come with adverse health effects.