Washington-based researchers found cancer screening guidelines underreport harms related to screening tests and procedures and are inconsistent across cancer types, a study published Sept. 27 in Annals of Internal Medicine found.
A review of 33 cancer screening guidelines for five organ-specific cancer types showed guidelines do not report all harms associated with the procedures. The most complete report of harms was for prostate cancer screening, and the least complete report was for colorectal cancer.
The review recommends improving guidelines to inform patients of all risks associated with screening, as well as nuances associated with each organ-specific screening.