> Small clarification - early detection is most often curative and cheap.
> It actually provides a pretty good incentive for insurers to cover screening and early detection beyond what is mandated by law.
The evidence in favor of mass screening programs in the hope of early detection is actually weak to non-existent [1].
> In total, 2 111 958 individuals enrolled in randomized clinical trials comparing screening with no screening using 6 different tests were eligible. Median follow-up was 10 years for computed tomography, prostate-specific antigen testing, and colonoscopy; 13 years for mammography; and 15 years for sigmoidoscopy and FOBT. The only screening test with a significant lifetime gain was sigmoidoscopy (110 days; 95% CI, 0-274 days). There was no significant difference following mammography (0 days: 95% CI, −190 to 237 days), prostate cancer screening (37 days; 95% CI, −37 to 73 days), colonoscopy (37 days; 95% CI, −146 to 146 days), FOBT screening every year or every other year (0 days; 95% CI, −70.7 to 70.7 days), and lung cancer screening (107 days; 95% CI, −286 days to 430 days).
There are large institutions, both nonprofit and commercial, which stand to gain by convincing people that mass screening is useful and important. The available scientific evidence does not support their position.
[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...
