简介:Cancerscreeningisasourceofmuchdebate.Attheinterfacebetweenpublichealth,specialistcare,economicsandpolicy,itcreatestensionsbetweenprofessionalgroups,politicians,themediaandthepublic.Ascreeningtestmaybecheap,butapplyingittoapopulation(withrigorousqualitycontrolandeffectiveprocessingofpatientswithabnormalresults)createsahugeworkloadandthereforecost.Screeningcanalsohavepsychologicaleffectsonindividualswithfalse-positiveresultswhorequireinvestigationbutareeventuallyfoundnottohavecancer.