See here for other articles on dodgy “MRI Cancer Scans”
These predatory adverts keep coming up: this one for Phoenix Hospital Group, offering “Full body MRI cancer screening”1.
Phoenix Hospital Group Full Body Cancer MRI Screening advert, published on Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere (source)
There are a number of problems with this advert in particular:
The premise is false: There is no such thing as a “full body cancer MRI screening”. “Screening”, in a medical context, has a very strict and precise definition, and all screening programmes are regulated by the UK National Screening Committee.
Screening programmes are evaluated, among other criteria, in terms of harm vs benefit. This is because screening can itself cause harm2.
Screening programmes you might have heard of include the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and the Breast Screening Programme. “Full Body Cancer Screening” is not one of them. It is therefore misleading to call this a “cancer screening”.
The advert likely falls foul of the Cancer Act 1939, which makes it an offence to advertise products to the general public that offer to treat cancer.
The advert could cause harm, on two fronts:
The phrase “What if we told you [that] you could have complete peace of mind within a couple of weeks” implies that, after a clear result, the person’s mind may be put to rest, and that whatever symptoms might have had them search on the internet (and cause this advert to appear in the first place) can be dismissed after a clear MRI. There are dozens of cancers that would not appear on MRI, but your patient now decides that the visit to the GP can be put off, because they got the “all-clear” in an MRI scan. Superb stuff.
If something is found, something needs to be done, right? Well no. We know that something like ⅓ of imaging studies will find abnormalities, but the minority of these abnormalities are in fact caused by malignancy. This was well covered by O’Sullivan et al. in 20183. Where abnormalities are found, further investigations need to be undertaken, and some of these investigations will inevitably cause harm.
The advert has been reported to ASA to stop the advert from appearing in its current form, and the company has also been reported to Trading Standards. Updates will appear here in due course.
