Centers that perform comprehensive cancer screening in a single appointment may enable earlier cancer diagnosis, according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers found that screening performed at an integrated cancer prevention center (ICPC) detected most cancers at an earlier stage than standard screening practices.
Researchers examined data from 17,104 patients who were screened from 2006 to 2019 at an ICPC at the Tel Aviv Medical Center in Israel. Screening was performed by oncologists and other specialists.
Patients were screened for breast, colon, cervical, lung, skin, ovarian, thyroid, uterine, testicular, oropharyngeal, and prostate cancers. They were also screened based on personal or family history. All screening tests except colonoscopy were performed at 1 appointment.
A total of 259 new cancers were diagnosed at the ICPC. An additional 189 cancers were diagnosed at 1 year or more after the last ICPC visit, and 17 cancers were missed.
The researchers compared the stage of cancer at diagnosis among patients diagnosed at the ICPC and patients enrolled in national Israeli and US cancer registries. Most cancers detected at the ICPC were detected at earlier stages than cancers in patients on the registries.
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The percentage of cancers found at a metastatic stage at the ICPC compared with the Israeli registry was lower for breast cancer (0% vs 3.7%), lung cancer (6.7% vs 11.4%), colon cancer (20.0% vs 46.2%), prostate cancer (5.6% vs 10.5%), and cervical/uterine cancers (0% vs 8.5%).
Similarly, the average stage of cancer at detection was earlier (stages 0-II) for patients diagnosed at the ICPC compared with patients enrolled in the US registry. This was the case for breast cancer (72.5% vs 67.1%), lung cancer (86.7% vs 49.3%), prostate cancer (91.7% vs 90.9%), and cervical/uterine cancers (92.8% vs 86.4%).
Researchers noted that the only cancer not detected at earlier stages at the ICPC compared with the US registry was colon cancer (50% vs 77.3%). They attributed this difference to the increase in colon cancer screening in the US, where nearly 70% of individuals aged 50-75 years are up to date on screening.
The researchers acknowledged that screening at the ICPC was not necessarily superior to standard screening in quality, but one advantage of ICPC screening was speed. The results and additional recommended workups were expedited, and further recommendations and follow-ups with available physicians were provided on the same day.
“In summary, this novel one-stop shop screening program for cancer prevention has the potential to save lives and money,” the researchers concluded. “[I]t is a first of its kind program that proves that this approach is feasible and successful, with an ability to detect a wide range of neoplastic lesions at an early stage.”
Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.
Reference
Bernstein E, Lev-Ari S, Shapira S, et al. Data from a one-stop-shop comprehensive cancer screening center. J Clin Oncol. Published online January 20, 2023. doi:10.1200/JCO.22.00938
