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Overdiagnosis of cancer in Australia: the role of screening

David M Roder and Elizabeth Buckley
Med J Aust 2020; 212 (4): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50494
Published online: 2 March 2020

The balance between benefits and risks could be improved if effective risk‐based screening protocols were developed

Overdiagnosis can be defined as the proportion of diagnosed cancers that would not otherwise have come to a person's attention during their lifetime.1,2 Overdiagnosis provides no benefit to the patient but can have financial, psychosocial, and health consequences.2 While advances in imaging and other screening and diagnostic technologies can lead to therapeutic benefit, they can also increase overdiagnosis. Because overdiagnosed cancers are generally indistinguishable from potentially lethal cancers, the imperative to treat is equivalent.2


  • Cancer Research Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA


Correspondence: david.roder@unisa.edu.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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  • 2. Marmot MG, Altman DG, Cameron DA, et al. The benefits and harms of breast cancer screening: an independent review. Br J Cancer 2013; 108: 2205–2240.
  • 3. Rainey L, van der Waal D, Jervaeus A, et al. Are we ready for the challenge of implementing risk‐based breast cancer screening and primary prevention? Breast 2018; 39: 24–32.
  • 4. Glasziou PP, Jones MA, Pathirana T, et al. Estimating the magnitude of cancer overdiagnosis in Australia. Med J Aust 2020; 212: 163–168.
  • 5. Esserman LJ, Thompson IM, Reid B, et al. Addressing overdiagnosis and overtreatment in cancer: a prescription for change. Lancet Oncol 2014; 15: e234–e242.
  • 6. Njor SH, Garne JP, Lynge E. Over‐diagnosis estimate from The Independent UK Panel on Breast Cancer Screening is based on unsuitable data. J Med Screen 2013; 20: 104–105.
  • 7. Morrell S, Gregory M, Sexton K, et al. Absence of sustained breast cancer incidence inflation in a national mammography screening programme. J Med Screen 2019; 26: 26–34.

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