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It’s unclear to me how screening reduces cancer. That said, this additional screening with MRI seems like it may reliably detect cancers earlier in the populati
by zrail 7y ago
It’s unclear to me how screening reduces cancer. That said, this additional screening with MRI seems like it may reliably detect cancers earlier in the population of women with dense breast tissue, who are more likely to develop cancer in the first place. Earlier detection generally results in better outcomes.
- war1025 7y agoBased on a quick look around the web, "interval cancer" means specifically a cancer that develops after having previously received a cancer screen where no cancer or pre-cancer was found. So basically it reduces "interval cancer", not "cancer", by more effectively finding warning signs.
- andreareina 7y agoThe benefit of earlier detection really depends on the bottom-line number (and nature) of improved outcomes vs the harm caused by false positives and overdiagnosis[1][2]. [1] https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-skeptical-look-at-screening-tests/ https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-skeptical-look-at-screeni... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidental_imaging_finding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidental_imaging_finding
- 1e-9 7y agoYes, the study showed that cancers were less likely to be diagnosed outside of the regular screening exams. The implication is that the added MRI detected some cancers that would have otherwise been missed during screening and then later found before the next scheduled screening.