Early cancer screening often results in false positives, causing anxiety and leading to unnecessary invasive tests and treatments for conditions that may not be harmful. Some detected cancers grow so slowly that they may never impact health, yet current diagnostic methods fail to differentiate these from aggressive forms, leading to overtreatment. The diagnostic process can be ambiguous, as pathologists may disagree on cancer cell classification. While early screening techniques lower relative risk of mortality, this benefit is generally modest when considering the absolute number of lives saved.
Some detected "cancers" (pseudodisease) grow so slowly they'd never threaten health, yet current methods can't distinguish them from aggressive cancers, resulting in overtreatment.
While screening reduces relative risk (e.g., mammography lowers breast cancer deaths by ~33 percent), the absolute benefit is often modest (e.g., three fewer deaths per 1,000 women).
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