Older Americans screened for cancer despite limited benefits

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new report in The Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, up to 50% of older people in the United States received cancer screening despite a high probability that they would die without cancer within the next 9 years. Trevor Royce, MD, MS, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his colleagues agree that routine cancer screenings has minimal benefits for patients with a limited life expectancy.

In the study, the researchers assessed responses from 27,404 people at least 65 years old. Based on their responses, the researchers estimated their probability of death within the next 9 years and then identified which of those had recently been screened for breast, cervical, colon, and prostate cancers.

They found that 55% of men who had a 75% risk of death had received a prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening. Approximately 33% of women with a 75% risk of death received breast and cervical cancer screenings. In addition, 41% of people who were not likely to live another 10 years received colon cancer screenings.

The American Cancer Society and other professional societies recommend stopping PSA screening in men who are not expected to live another 10 years.