Most women do not realise that breast cancer screening could lead to them being given treatment they do not need – but this does not deter them from taking the test, researchers say today.
Researchers said women were "surprised and shocked" when told of the risks of over-treatment.
The findings came from a series of focus groups conducted by Cancer Research UK and reported in BMJ Open.
These showed that "most" women still felt positive about screening after they were told of the risk of over-treatment.
This included the possibility they might be treated for slow-growing cancers that might never have caused a problem in their life-time.
A review last autumn said there might be three cases of over-treatment for every life saved through screening.
Researcher Dr Jo Waller, of University College London, said: “We found a widespread lack of awareness of overdiagnosis and a strong view that the information was important, although it rarely changed women’s beliefs about the value of screening or their decisions about attending in the future.
“Our study also highlighted the difficulty of communicating risk information about cancer screening. Population-level data and statistical modelling are difficult even for medical experts to understand, and more so for individuals to use to weigh up the personal pros and cons of screening."
Sara Hiom, of Cancer Research UK, said the problem of over-treatment also meant scientists had to do more to identify life-threatening disease.
She said: "While this study highlights the need for clearer communication about overdiagnosis, it also demonstrates the need for more research to identify women at higher risk of breast cancer and distinguish between faster and slower growing cancers. We are working towards this now."
Waller, J et al. Women’s responses to information about overdiagnosis in the UK breast screening programme: a qualitive study BMJ Open 23 April 2013; doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002703
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