Unnecessary Cancer Screenings in the US Persist Long After Guidelines Shift: Daily Dose

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Unnecessary Cancer Screenings in the US Persist Long After Guidelines Shift: Daily Dose / Image Credit: ©New Africa/AdobeStock
©New Africa/AdobeStock

Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.


On June 12, 2025, we reported on a study published in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety that was designed to assess how long it takes to deimplement low-value cancer screening practices in the US.

The study

Researchers analyzed 6 United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Grade D cancer screening recommendations—guidelines advising against specific screening tests in certain populations due to limited or no benefit, or potential harm. They measured the time between guideline publication and de-implementation, defined as a 50% reduction in the use of the practice in routine care.

The findings

The results indicated that the deimplementation of low-value cancer screening practices varies significantly depending on the specific screening and population. Specifically:

  • The time to reduce cervical cancer screening in women under 21 years of age was approximately 4 years after guideline publication.

  • For women aged over 65 years, the reduction took about 16 years.

  • Prostate cancer screening in men aged 70 years and older has not yet reached a 50% reduction since the 2012 guidelines, even after more than a decade.

  • For ovarian, thyroid, testicular, and pancreatic cancer screenings in asymptomatic adults, there was insufficient evidence to determine the time to deimplementation.

Authors' comments

"Surveillance of low-value cancer screening is sparse, posing a clear barrier to tracking the de-implementation of these screening practices. Improving the systematic measurement of low-value cancer control practices is imperative for assessing the impact of de-implementation on patient outcomes, healthcare delivery and healthcare costs."

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