Cost-effectiveness of prostate cancer testing and cervical cancer screening

Our general aim is to use modelling to reduce the burden due to prostate and cervical cancer through cost-effective screening.

For prostate cancer, new tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and artificial intelligence (AI) assisted pathology are expected to reduce harms while maintaining the mortality benefits from early detection.

For cervical cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations are expected to substantially reduce HPV incidence and eventually lead to the eradication of cervical cancer.

With changes to HPV transmission, cervical cancer screening may require extended genotyping, self-sampling and renewed guidelines to be cost-effective.We will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of: (i) organised prostate cancer testing (OPT) in Sweden, including MRI and the Stockholm3 test; (ii) prostate cancer testing using a genetic risk score; (iii) prostate cancer diagnostics using AI-assisted pathology; and (iv) primary HPV testing with extended genotyping in vaccinated cohorts with clinic-based testing or self-sampling.

These results will inform policy for (a) the development and planning of a national OPT program, (b) the use of AI-assisted histopathology, and (c) the development of national cervical cancer screening guidelines for vaccinated cohorts.