AbstractImportance Cancer screening is often promoted as a means to save lives. The question of whether cancer screening truly saves lives is becoming increasingly relevant given the growing enthusiasm for multicancer detection blood tests (ie, liquid biopsies). It is possible in randomized clinical trials for screening to reduce deaths due to the targeted cancer without reducing deaths due to all causes. However, it is feasible to test all-cause mortality for multicancer screening because cancer deaths are such a large component of deaths in general. For these reasons, a randomized clinical trial is mandatory not only to learn if multicancer screening saves lives, but also to learn how frequently it causes harm.

Source: New York Times August 28, 2023 15:03 UTC