Extrait

Background and study aims Although cancer screening has the potential to save lives, it may also cause harm. Research has shown that many people have difficulties understanding the concept of overdiagnosis, which is one of the main potential harms of screening. Overdiagnosis refers to the diagnosis of a cancer that would never have caused a problem during a person’s lifetime; either because it was slow-growing, or because the person would have died of another cause before symptoms arose. However, cancer screening aimed at detecting aggressive cancers will also identify slow-growing cancers. Since doctors can't yet distinguish aggressive and slow-growing cancers, every cancer will be classified as aggressive, and the individual will be offered treatment (e.g. chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery). Given that cancer treatment is still highly invasive, drastically diminishes quality of life and is associated with secondary medical problems (e.g. heart disease, urinary incontinence, impotence), it is vital to find effective ways to communicate the potential harms of screening, so that people can make informed decisions about screening. It is possible that many people ignore the harms of screening because thinking about cancer screening makes them think about dying from cancer. Therefore, it may be that reading information on overdiagnosis, which just states the facts, may not get a similar emotional response. In this study, we would like to test whether varying the emotional content in cancer screening information about overdiagnosis could help people think more about the benefits and harms of cancer screening. We hope that this would lead to people making more informed decisions about whether or not they would like to take part in screening. Who can participate? Men and women aged 40-70 who do not have a personal history of breast/prostate cancer, respectively. What does the study involve? The study involves reading some information about overdiagnosis and filling out an online survey. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? There is little risk for participants from taking part in the study. One benefit of taking part may be that participants learn about the benefits and harms of cancer screening. Where is the study run from? University College London (UCL) (UK). When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? May 2015 to August 2017. Who is funding the study? Cancer Research UK. Who is the main contact? Dr Susanne Meisel

Critère d'inclusion

• Understanding of over-diagnosis in cancer screening

Liens

• isrctn
• ictrp