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Context Public health officials, physicians, and disease advocacy groups have worked hard to educate individuals living in the United States about the importance of cancer screening. Objective To determine the public's enthusiasm for early cancer detection. Design, Setting, and Participants Survey using a national telephone interview of adults selected by random digit dialing, conducted from December 2001 through July 2002. Five hundred individuals participated (women aged Ն40 years and men aged Ն50 years; without a history of cancer). Main Outcome Measures Responses to a survey with 5 modules: a general screening module (eg, value of early detection, total-body computed tomography); and 4 screening test modules: Papanicolaou test; mammography; prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test; and sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. Results Most adults (87%) believe routine cancer screening is almost always a good idea and that finding cancer early saves lives (74% said most or all the time). Less than one third believe that there will be a time when they will stop undergoing routine screening. A substantial proportion believe that an 80-year-old who chose not to be tested was irresponsible: ranging from 41% with regard to mammography to 32% for colonoscopy. Thirty-eight percent of respondents had experienced at least 1 falsepositive screening test; more than 40% of these individuals characterized that experience as "very scary" or the "scariest time of my life." Yet, looking back, 98% were glad they had had the initial screening test. Most had a strong desire to know about the presence of cancer regardless of its implications: two thirds said they would want to be tested for cancer even if nothing could be done; and 56% said they would want to be tested for what is sometimes termed pseudodisease (cancers growing so slowly that they would never cause problems during the persons lifetime even if untreated). Seventy-three percent of respondents would prefer to receive a total-body computed tomographic scan instead of receiving $1000 in cash. Conclusions The public is enthusiastic about cancer screening. This commitment is not dampened by false-positive test results or the possibility that testing could lead to unnecessary treatment. This enthusiasm creates an environment ripe for the premature diffusion of technologies such as total-body computed tomographic scanning, placing the public at risk of overtesting and overtreatment.

In low-risk patients with stable coronary artery disease, aggressive lipid-lowering therapy is at least as effective as angioplasty and usual care in reducing the incidence of ischemic events.

Background-Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) may improve detection of life-threatening pulmonary embolism. But this sensitive test may have a downside: overdiagnosis and overtreatment (finding clinically unimportant emboli and exposing patients to harms from unnecessary treatment).

Background Because pulmonary nodules are found in up to 25% of patients undergoing chest computed tomography, the question of whether to biopsy is becoming increasingly common. Data on complications following transthoracic needle lung biopsy are limited to case series from selected institutions. Objective To determine population-based estimates of risks of complications following transthoracic needle biopsy of a pulmonary nodule. Design Cross-sectional analysis. Setting The 2006 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s State Ambulatory Surgery Databases and State Inpatient Databases for California, Florida, Michigan, and New York. Patients 15,865 adults who underwent transthoracic needle biopsy of a pulmonary nodule. Measurements Percent of biopsies complicated by hemorrhage, any pneumothorax, and pneumothorax requiring chest tube, and adjusted odds ratios for these complications associated with various biopsy characteristics, calculated using multivariable population-averaged generalized estimating equations. Results Although hemorrhage was rare, complicating 1.0% (95% CI 0.9-1.2%) of biopsies, 17.8% (95% CI 11.8-23.8%) of patients with hemorrhage required a blood transfusion. By contrast, the risk of any pneumothorax was 15.0% (95% CI 14.0-16.0%), and 6.6% (95% CI 6.0-7.2%) of all biopsies resulted in a pneumothorax requiring chest tube. Compared to patients without complications, those who experienced hemorrhage or pneumothorax requiring chest tube had longer lengths of stay (p<0.001) and were more likely to develop respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation (p=0.02). Patients aged 60-69 years (as opposed to younger or older patients), smokers, and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had higher risk of complications. Limitations Estimated risks may be inaccurate if coding of complications is incomplete. The databases analyzed contain little clinical detail (e.g., nodule characteristics, biopsy pathology) and cannot determine whether biopsies produced useful information. Conclusion While hemorrhage is an infrequent complication of transthoracic needle lung biopsy, pneumothorax is common and often necessitates chest tube placement. These population-based data should help patients and doctors make a more informed choice on whether to biopsy a pulmonary nodule. Primary Funding Source Department of Veterans Affairs and National Cancer Institute K07 CA 138772