Only one screening test has demonstrated a reduction in all-cause mortality: low-dose chest CT, by 6.7% in the American trial. Not one other, including the ones everybody recommends. Several do reduce disease-specific incidence or death, in defined populations, and that distinction is the whole subject. Noria Health arranges a targeted screening assessment in Brussels within 48 hours, with results read the same day by a physician.
What each test has actually demonstrated
| Test | What the trials show |
|---|---|
| Low-dose chest CT | All-cause mortality reduced 6.7%. But 18.5% of the cancers detected were overdiagnosis — tumours that would never have caused symptoms. |
| Screening colonoscopy (NordICC, 2022) | Colorectal cancer incidence reduced 18% at 10 years. The mortality reduction does not reach significance. |
| PSA, 23 years of follow-up | About 456 men invited and 12 cancers diagnosed to prevent 1 death from prostate cancer. |
| Single PSA measurement, British trial | No difference in all-cause mortality at 15 years. |
| Broad cardiovascular screening (DANCAVAS) | 46,611 men aged 65 to 74 invited to very broad screening with imaging. |
Read the colonoscopy line carefully, because it is the one that gets misquoted most. Fewer cancers, yes. Fewer deaths, not demonstrably — not yet, and not in that trial.
The number we will not leave out
We will not write that PSA screening saves lives without adding that 12 men must be diagnosed for 1 to be saved. The other eleven carry a cancer diagnosis, and often its treatment, without living longer for it.
The mechanism is now well described: treating early reduces metastases, without that translating into a survival difference at 15 years. That is not an argument against screening. It is an argument for deciding with your own risk profile in front of you — family history, ethnicity, age, PSA kinetics — rather than from a leaflet or from this page.
Where screening is worth it because nobody notices the disease
Some conditions are worth looking for precisely because they are silent until they are not.
- Hypertension. 44% of people with high blood pressure do not know they have it. Note also that office measurement alone has a sensitivity of 0.54, against 0.84 for home self-measurement — how you measure matters as much as whether you do.
- Glaucoma. Roughly one person in two who has it does not know. If you have diabetes, a family history of glaucoma, are over 60 or are strongly short-sighted, a documented examination with measurements that can be compared in two years is justified.
- Melanoma. Around 332,000 melanomas were diagnosed worldwide in 2022 and close to 59,000 people died. Skin examination is quick, and the argument for it does not depend on a mortality trial.
- Kidney stones. One of the few conditions whose recurrence is precisely quantified: 31% at 10 years. That figure justifies a metabolic work-up after a first stone, not a scan every year.
The cost of testing in excess
Stacking tests does not raise safety. Across 14 screening tests over three years, 60.4% of men had at least one false positive and 28.5% underwent an invasive diagnostic procedure because of it. In whole-body imaging of asymptomatic people, 68,436 participants produced 32.1% critical or indeterminate incidental findings against a confirmed cancer rate of 1.57% — roughly twenty things to investigate for one cancer found.
This is why a screening assessment should start with a conversation about your risk, and why the honest version of it will decline to run tests you do not need.
What the assessment looks like
- A risk conversation first. Age, family history, exposures, what you already know. The panel is built from that.
- One day, in one place, at an accredited private clinic in the Brussels area, within 48 hours of your request.
- Results read the same day by a physician, in front of you — including which tests were deliberately not done, and why.
- A written report for your own doctor, with the measurements recorded so they can be compared in two or five years. A screening result is only worth what the next one can be compared against.
What Noria Health does not do
- It does not employ doctors and does not practise medicine. The physician decides what is worth testing.
- It does not sell a fixed panel. A panel identical for a 38-year-old and a 67-year-old is a product, not an assessment.
- It does not publish medical prices and does not compare the prices of clinics or doctors — Article 37 of the Belgian Code of Medical Ethics prohibits it.
- It does not publish patient testimonials. Health data is a special category under Article 9 of the GDPR.
Questions people actually ask
Should I have a PSA test?
That depends on your age, family history and what you would do with an abnormal result. The trial arithmetic is 456 men invited and 12 diagnosed to prevent one death, and a single measurement showed no all-cause mortality benefit at 15 years. It is a decision to make with a physician who knows your risk, not a box to tick.
Is a whole-body scan a good idea?
In an asymptomatic person, usually not: 32.1% incidental findings against 1.57% confirmed cancers. There are indications for it; a routine check is not normally one of them.
Which screening actually reduces deaths?
On all-cause mortality, only low-dose chest CT, and by 6.7%, in a defined smoking history. Others reduce disease incidence or disease-specific death. The distinction matters and most pages blur it.
Can I do this if I live outside Belgium?
Yes. Belgian private clinics take self-paying international patients; no prior authorisation is needed when you pay privately.
How soon can I be seen?
Within 48 hours. Screening and preventive assessment is one of the pathways with a physician on immediate standby.
The evidence behind this page
- Cancer screening: what the trials demonstrate
- PSA and MRI: what 23 years of follow-up taught us
- Cardiovascular screening: what the trials have settled
- Screening for melanoma: what the examination finds
- What you lose without noticing: eye screening
- Health check-up in Brussels — how a targeted assessment is built and arranged.
The other pathways Noria coordinates
- Orthopaedic surgery and spine
- Chronic pain and second opinions
- Health check-up in Brussels
- ENT, allergy and sleep
- Gynaecology
- Dental and maxillofacial
- Digestive and metabolic surgery
Noria Health Ltd., United Kingdom — company no. 16743616. Medical coordination and patient routing. Not a healthcare establishment. This page summarises published trial evidence; it is not medical advice and does not replace consultation with a physician.