Hyperhomocysteinemia in sudden sensorineural hearing loss: Evidence from a prospective clinical study.

Early cancer detection through organised screening programmes is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) [], as it plays a crucial role in reducing the burden of disease and preventing avoidable deaths. Despite decades of organised cancer screening in Europe and worldwide, substantial inequalities in participation persist []. These inequalities occur both between countries, reflecting variation in screening policy, programme organisation, implementation, monitoring, and performance [, ], and within countries, where participation may differ by socioeconomic position, education, ethnicity, migration background, geographic location, disability, age, and gender-related factors [–]. Recognising these challenges, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, launched in 2021, emphasises the need for a new EU-supported Cancer Screening Scheme to improve access, quality, and diagnostics []. The Council Recommendation (2022/C 473/01) on strengthening prevention through early detection reaffirms organised population-based screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer, and invites Member States to explore the feasibility and stepwise implementation of organised screening for lung and prostate cancer, as well as for gastric cancer in regions with high incidence and mortality []. In line with this prioritisation, the present review focuses on these six cancer entities: breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, prostate, and gastric cancer. Importantly, organised population-based screening programmes are not uniformly implemented across these cancers. While breast cancer screening, cervical screening, and colorectal cancer screening have long been established in many countries, organised screening for lung, prostate, and gastric cancer remains limited, is restricted to selected countries or high-risk populations, or is still under evaluation []. Accordingly, empirical evidence on cancer screening is more readily available for cancers and countries with mature, organised programmes and routine monitoring systems, whereas evidence remains limited where screening is newer, less organised, restricted to pilots or selected populations, or not systematically monitored []. Within this policy context, the EUCanScreen Joint Action (2024–2028) brings together 29 European countries to support the implementation of high-quality, equitable cancer screening []. Conducted within the framework of the Joint Action, this scoping review aims to raise awareness of cancer screening in people with intellectual disability (ID) and provide evidence to guide future programme development.