Cancer screening in Australia: future directions in melanoma, Lynch syndrome, and liver, lung and prostate cancers.

While Australia now has well-established national screening programs for breast, bowel and cervical cancers, research continues into the feasibility of developing systematic screening programs for a number of other cancers. In this paper, experts in their fields provide perspectives on the current state of play and future directions for screening and surveillance for melanoma, Lynch syndrome, and liver, lung and prostate cancers in Australia. Although the evidence does not support population screening, there may be opportunities to prevent thousands of deaths through systematic approaches to the early detection of lung cancer and melanoma, testing for Lynch syndrome, and organised surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma among individuals at high risk - guided by targeted research. The paper also looks at what impact new prostate specific antigen testing guidelines are having on screening for prostate cancer.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

FM has done paid consultancy work for Rhythm Biosciences and received payment for providing medicolegal opinions. BA’s then-employer, the Sax Institute, was reimbursed by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) for remunerated time spent advising the systematic evidence review team for the PSA testing guideline and on writing parts of the guideline document. BA is a member of the PCFA’s Board and Chair of their Research Advisory Committee. He receives no remuneration for either of these positions, but all expenses for attending meetings are paid for by the PCFA.