I was motivated to improve the outcome for women with ovarian cancer by my experience as a junior doctor in London in 1985. But 36 years on, the results aren’t what we’d hoped.
New research estimates 24% of cancers in men that were detected in 2012 were overdiagnosed, meaning they never would have caused harm if left untreated.
New tests may mean more people are diagnosed, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be helped by the label or the treatment. Here are five markers that overdiagnosis may be occuring.
Stephanie Harrison, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute; Azmeraw Amare, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute; Jyoti Khadka, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute; Maria Carolina Inacio, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute; Sarah Bray, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute, and Tiffany Gill, University of Adelaide
As you age, your body deteriorates and your risk of disease and injury increases. Here’s a decade by decade guide to what you’re up against – and what you can do about it.
Prostate cancer is the second deadliest cancer among men, but not all types of the disease are as deadly as others. That has led to confusion over screening. An expert explains why new guidelines make sense.
Since the 1980s, PSA tests have been used for the diagnosis and follow-up of prostate cancer. However, its use as a screening test for prostate cancer remains controversial.
There are currently few effective and non-invasive methods to screen for early stages of cancer. But scientists have now developed a new blood test that promises to detect eight different cancers.
For the first time, some Australian women will be eligible to collect their own sample for cervical screening. While it’s not as accurate as one from a GP or nurse, it could still save your life.
Calls to routinely offer breast cancer screening to more women might sound like a good idea, but can harm. Here are three questions to ask when figuring out whether more screening really is better.
I recently had a colonoscopy, an invasive medical procedure to examine the bowel, and was hugely relieved to get the all-clear. I posted a description of my experience to my friends on Facebook and got…
The roll-out of a new screening program for cervical cancer has been delayed, leaving Australian women understandably confused about if or when they need Pap smears. Here’s what they need to know.
Almost three in four Australian children consume too much sugar, 91.5% of young people don’t get enough exercise, and we’re among the most obese people in the world.
Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, AMREP Department of Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne & Senior Medical Oncologist and Palliative Care Physician, Melbourne Oncology Group, Cabrini Haematology and Oncology Centre, Wattletree Road, Malvern, Monash University