title: Cancer screening in the elderly.
abstract: Population-based cancer screening is effective only for a few tumour types. For these categories the screening programs have upper age limits. Arguments are provided for why population-based cancer screening is contraproductive in the elderly, even for cancers with a high incidence in old age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: van Dongen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control