ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT In this chapter, we present an overview of comparative effectiveness research in the area of early detection of diseases. The screening of asymptomatic individuals for chronic disease is a public health initiative that is rapidly growing. This is especially true in cancer where there are expanding early detection programs in breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, prostate and stomach cancers. The basic idea motivating the screening of asymptomatic populations is that diagnosing the disease early before it becomes symptomatic may result in better prognosis. Mathematical and simulation models are available to evaluate early detection programs. Model-based comparative effectiveness research provides insights into expected outcomes, positive and negative, from early detection programs. An exemplar mathematical model was introduced and an outcome-generating process was described.

Examples of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) working groups are presented.