Evaluation of diagnostic tests and screening:

Popular screening programmes address breast cancer, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer.

The evaluation of diagnostic tests and screening needs thorough investigation, given that
often healthy people undergo these tests. Dozens of millions of people are eligible. A good test can save their lives and their health. An inappropriate test may cause great harm. This involves particular responsibility of health care providers. Healthy individuals want and need responsible advice as to which diagnostic and screening tests are appropriate for them. In addition, the benefit and costs of screening programmes need to be balanced with recent developments such as vaccination against cervical cancer.

The evaluation of diagnostic tests and screening is mainly based on Bayes' Theorem, an extremely powerful tool to answer these questions.

Professional Activities in the Field of Diagnostics and Screening:

I organised the following symposium:

Evidence-Based Prevention. Satellite Symposium of the World Congress of Epidemiology,
Montreal, Canada, 18 August 2002.

This symposium brought together experts in the area of breast cancer screening. We discussed
the pros and cons of breast cancer screening programmes in various settings.

Teaching in the Field of Diagnostics and Screening:

Evidence-based methods to evaluate diagnostic tests and screening are an important part of my courses in "Epidemiology" and "Social and Preventive Medicine". Usually, I explain the topics using the examples of breast cancer and prostate cancer screening.

Selected Publications on Diagnostics, Screening, and Cancer:

Fürst G, Müller-Mattheis V, Cohnen M, Trautner C, Haastert B, Saleh A, Malms J, Ackermann R, Mödder U. Venous incompetence in erectile dysfunction: evaluation with color-coded duplex sonography and cavernosometry/-graphy. European Radiology 1999; 9:35-41.

Pfab T, Stoltenburg-Didinger G, Trautner C, Godes M, Bauer C, Hocher B. The endothelin system in Morris hepatoma-7777: an endothelin receptor antagonist inhibits growth in vitro and in vivo. Brit J Pharmacol 2004, 141(2):215-22.