Exploring New Pathways

Cancer screening programmes offer an important opportunity to engage citizens in broader cancer prevention efforts. Through activities within EUCanScreen, Sciensano as leads of task 9.6, with our co-leads at UNICANCER and Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon, France, are exploring ways to strengthen the links between screening and prevention by integrating health promotion and risk-reduction messages into screening pathways. The initial outcomes of a scoping review on how screening is used to strengthen the link between primary prevention and prevention after a cancer was presented at IARC’s 60th anniversary conference in May.

Preliminary Findings

Preliminary findings showed that most initiatives linked primary prevention to screening through lifestyle counselling, risk communication, or prevention information provision and counselling during screening encounters (“teachable moments”). Few programmes integrated tertiary prevention, highlighting a gap in supporting cancer survivors through continued screening and prevention of second primary cancers. Examples were most prevalent in breast cancer screening programmes. Evidence on sustainability, equity, and implementation within routine healthcare systems remains limited.