Doctors often don't reveal cancer test overtreatment and harms

health.harvard.edu - There’s no question that tests to detect cancer before it causes any problems can save lives. But such tests can also cause harm through overdiagnosis and overtreatment.A study published online yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine indicates that the majority of people are never informed by their doctors that early warning cancer tests may detect slow-growing, or no-growing, cancers that will never cause symptoms or affect health.