Upvoted, but I remain skeptical. "You might have cancer but the probability is low and we should just watch it" is true for everyone who hasn't been screened,

Upvoted, but I remain skeptical. "You might have cancer but the probability is low and we should just watch it" is true for everyone who hasn't been screened, just the "might" is somewhat higher for those with a bad test result. Benign-looking moles on your arm could be cancer. Things you can't see or feel in your organs could be cancer. Also, plenty of other things could kill you practically without warning—heart attack, stroke, car crash, and the chance of the first two (and cancer) goes up over time. It seems to me that people have to come to terms with these things eventually, and "you have a low probability of having this type of cancer" just doesn't seem that different to me (perhaps it's best phrased as "you have an x% chance of being killed by this cancer"). If you've seen several people respond badly despite understanding probability, well, it's hard to argue with that, but I can't help wondering if it's fixable through slightly better communication or education. Doing some reading about prostate cancer specifically, it seems like it actually is of the form "there is no appropriate action to take, regardless of the outcome of the screen"—or at least it's close enough that some experts think so. "In 2012 the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against prostate cancer screening using PSA.[39] As of 2018 a draft for new recommendations suggests that screening be individualized for those between the ages of 55 to 69. It notes a small potential decrease in the risk of dying from prostate cancer, but harm from overtreatment." And: "A study in Europe resulted in only a small decline in death rates and concluded that 48 men would need to be treated to save one life. But of the 47 men who were treated, most would be unable to ever again function sexually and would require more frequent trips to the bathroom." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer_screening#Guidelines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostate_cancer_screening#Guid...