Less Risky Growths Need Less Frightening Name Than Cancer

Low-risk growths in the breast, prostate and elsewhere should no longer be named cancer and screening efforts to spot them should be cut back, a panel convened by the U.S. National Cancer Institute said.

A three decade-long emphasis on the early identification of tumors was based on the idea that cancerous cells always spread and eventually kill, the researchers wrote yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Instead of sparking a drop in cancer deaths, the approach has led to the detection and toxic treatment of millions of people who may have never had any symptoms from indolent lesions.