Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in context

Summary: Background: The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent volunteer organization of multi-disciplinary national experts in disease prevention that publishes evidence-based guidelines for cancer screening. However, these guidelines are not binding and many indi...

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Main Authors: Kristin Wright, Brian Shkabari, Christopher Booth, Kevin Knopf, Michelle Tregear, Bishal Gyawali
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:EClinicalMedicine
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537025001014
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author Kristin Wright
Brian Shkabari
Christopher Booth
Kevin Knopf
Michelle Tregear
Bishal Gyawali
author_facet Kristin Wright
Brian Shkabari
Christopher Booth
Kevin Knopf
Michelle Tregear
Bishal Gyawali
author_sort Kristin Wright
collection DOAJ
description Summary: Background: The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent volunteer organization of multi-disciplinary national experts in disease prevention that publishes evidence-based guidelines for cancer screening. However, these guidelines are not binding and many individual cancer centers publish their own screening recommendations. Methods: This cross-sectional study compared the congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the Top Ten US Cancer Centers as per the U.S News and World Report 2022–2023 for colorectal (CRC), lung (LC), cervical (CC), prostate (PC), and breast cancers (BC) in average risk patients. The evaluated variables included screening tests, recommendation direction, strength, frequency, age of start, age of end, and discussion/quantification of risks and benefits. Findings: Our study identified substantial variability between the screening recommendations from the Top Ten US Cancer Centers and the evidence based USPSTF guidelines for BC, PC, and CC. The discordance was almost always in the direction of the cancer centers recommending more screening beyond the USPSTF's recommendations, and without discussion of potential risks and harms. For LC and CRC, the guidelines were generally concordant between the cancer centers and USPSTF. Interpretation: Top Ten US Cancer Centers make screening recommendations inconsistent with those of the USPSTF recommendations, with cancer centers generally recommending more screening and omitting a nuanced discussion of benefits and risks. Given the national and international reputation of these cancer centers, their recommendations can have important population level implications, including confusion in the public. Funding: None.
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spelling doaj-art-0d8c8f665a404149990cba7b8a86dccf2025-08-20T03:10:01ZengElsevierEClinicalMedicine2589-53702025-04-018210316910.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103169Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in contextKristin Wright0Brian Shkabari1Christopher Booth2Kevin Knopf3Michelle Tregear4Bishal Gyawali5Department of Oncology, Queen's University, Kingston, CanadaDivision of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, CanadaDepartment of Oncology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada; Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada; Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, CanadaInstitute for Health Policy Studies and Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USANational Breast Cancer Coalition, Washington DC, USADepartment of Oncology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada; Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada; Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada; Corresponding author. 10 Stuart Street, Cancer Research Institute, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.Summary: Background: The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent volunteer organization of multi-disciplinary national experts in disease prevention that publishes evidence-based guidelines for cancer screening. However, these guidelines are not binding and many individual cancer centers publish their own screening recommendations. Methods: This cross-sectional study compared the congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the Top Ten US Cancer Centers as per the U.S News and World Report 2022–2023 for colorectal (CRC), lung (LC), cervical (CC), prostate (PC), and breast cancers (BC) in average risk patients. The evaluated variables included screening tests, recommendation direction, strength, frequency, age of start, age of end, and discussion/quantification of risks and benefits. Findings: Our study identified substantial variability between the screening recommendations from the Top Ten US Cancer Centers and the evidence based USPSTF guidelines for BC, PC, and CC. The discordance was almost always in the direction of the cancer centers recommending more screening beyond the USPSTF's recommendations, and without discussion of potential risks and harms. For LC and CRC, the guidelines were generally concordant between the cancer centers and USPSTF. Interpretation: Top Ten US Cancer Centers make screening recommendations inconsistent with those of the USPSTF recommendations, with cancer centers generally recommending more screening and omitting a nuanced discussion of benefits and risks. Given the national and international reputation of these cancer centers, their recommendations can have important population level implications, including confusion in the public. Funding: None.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537025001014USPSTFGuidelinesTop Ten US Cancer CentersCancer screeningCancer diagnosisOverdiagnosis
spellingShingle Kristin Wright
Brian Shkabari
Christopher Booth
Kevin Knopf
Michelle Tregear
Bishal Gyawali
Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in context
EClinicalMedicine
USPSTF
Guidelines
Top Ten US Cancer Centers
Cancer screening
Cancer diagnosis
Overdiagnosis
title Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in context
title_full Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in context
title_fullStr Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in context
title_full_unstemmed Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in context
title_short Congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the USPSTF and the top ten US cancer centers: a cross sectional studyResearch in context
title_sort congruence of cancer screening recommendations between the uspstf and the top ten us cancer centers a cross sectional studyresearch in context
topic USPSTF
Guidelines
Top Ten US Cancer Centers
Cancer screening
Cancer diagnosis
Overdiagnosis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589537025001014
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