Expert says overdiagnosis means Australian cancer screening tests must be ‘handled very carefully’

Prof Robert Steele, has warned a Melbourne conference that mass cancer screening can harm patients through unnecessary treatment. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

The UK surgeon whose work led to the introduction of bowel cancer screening tests has warned the practice has potential to be a “dangerous tool”.

In his keynote address to the Public Health Association of Australia’s Cancer Screening Symposium, Prof Robert Steele called for greater public awareness that screening is a “double-edged sword”.