578 - Does Cancer Screening Save Lives?
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2023
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For decades, improvement in diagnostic tools for cancer have led to a movement of early screening from mammograms to colonoscopies. Today, Dr. Otis Brawley, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, tells Stephanie Desmon that many people think screening is better than it actually is. While early screening can save lives, they discuss the how to be sure you're getting high-quality screening when you need it, and about some of the harm of over-screening in certain cases.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, |
| 0:05.9 | where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges. |
| 0:16.3 | If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jh.h.edu. |
| 0:23.8 | That's public health question at jh.u.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:33.0 | This is Stephanie Desmond. |
| 0:35.0 | Today I speak to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Otis |
| 0:38.8 | Brawley about cancer screening and how, generally, people think screening is better that it actually is. |
| 0:45.1 | We discuss the benefits and risks of mammography, colonoscopy, and more. Let's listen. |
| 0:51.6 | Otis Brawley, thanks so much for joining me. |
| 0:55.4 | Thank you for having me. |
| 0:59.1 | So today we want to talk about cancer screening. |
| 1:08.4 | And really what I want to talk to you about is the research and all the work you've done over the years to determine, is cancer screening all it's cracked up to be? |
| 1:11.9 | I'm wondering where you want to start. Well, yeah, cancer screening is far more complicated than many people think it is. |
| 1:17.1 | Many people think you just get the test and if the test finds cancer, there is benefit. |
| 1:23.0 | The truth is, is far more complicated than that. Now, in the case of cervical cancer with a pap smear, |
| 1:29.7 | or now with more advanced HPV testing, it clearly saves lives, and it should be done, |
| 1:36.7 | starting with women who are in their 20s, certain tests should only be done once women are in |
| 1:43.2 | their 30s, well into their 60s. |
| 1:45.9 | With colorectal cancer screening, everybody thinks colonoscopy, colonoscopy. |
| 1:51.5 | Truth be told, colonoscopy saves lives, and it can be done every 10 years. |
| 1:56.1 | But there's stool blood testing, which can be done every year. |
| 1:59.9 | There's now some stool DNA tests, which can be done every year. There's now some stool DNA tests, which can be done |
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