Cost-effective Cancer Checks

Is screening the entire population a cost-effective way to detect breast cancer mutations? The answer, according to a study by a multi-institutional team of researchers, is yes. “I have been working in the area of population testing for the last 10 years, and there are few interventions in medicine that save both money and lives,” says Ranjit Manchanda, Clinical Senior Lecturer, and Consultant Gynecological Oncologist at Barts Cancer Institute. “We have previously shown in a randomized trial that population-based BRCA testing in a Jewish population is effective, acceptable, does not have detrimental effects on psychological well-being or quality of life, and is cost-effective. In fact, in most scenarios, it is cost-saving.”