Over Diagnosis in Screening: Does It Make Sense?

[摘要] Cancer screenings have been carried out in developed countriesover the past four decades. While it may seem to be effective in detectingtumors early, there are many arguments or concerns in the issue ofover diagnosis; namely, the diagnosis of cancer that will not causesymptoms, nor death in a patient’s lifetime. Will regular screeningcontribute to a greater chance of over diagnosis? What is the possibilityof over-diagnosis for those individuals diagnosed with cancer earlyby screening? Or what is the percentage/proportion of over-diagnosisamong the screen-detected cancer patients? How should we estimatethis percentage.