Dutch population screenings for cancer save thousands of lives per year

The Netherlands’ three population screenings for cervical cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer save the lives of thousands of people every year, the Erasmus MC concluded in an effectiveness study. Because these patients require less treatment, the population screenings will also eventually save 216 million euros in healthcare costs, though a big part of that is canceled out by the costs of the screenings themselves, NOS reports.

For the first time in this study, the researchers also had access to detailed data on healthcare costs paid by health insurers. That means that this latest effectiveness study, performed once every four years, is much more precise.

According to the researchers, the population screening for colon cancer prevents 1,325 per 100,000 people from developing the disease because it is detected at an early age. With cervical cancer, the population screening prevents the disease in around 800 per 100,000 women. This involves mainly women who have not been vaccinated against HPV, the virus that is the most common cause of cervical cancer.

With breast cancer, prevention is not possible because there is not yet a way to detect the disease at that early a stage. However, the screening does catch breast cancer at an earlier stage, making the disease more treatable and survivable. The researchers estimate that the screening saves the lives of 1,255 per 100,000 breast cancer patients.

Because early detection typically means that less treatment is required, the screenings are expected to save 216 million euros in healthcare costs in the long term. But because the screenings themselves also come with a hefty price tag, they will save about 60 million euros per year for society.