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