The estimate focused on five cancers for which there is medically recommended screening — breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and prostate — and found that colonoscopies accounted for most of the costs.  The largest driver of screening costs, according to the study, was colonoscopies, which accounted for 55 percent of the $43 billion spent on screenings in 2021. 

Imperative Foundation Comment:  The article points out that the cost of cancer screening is high, but the

effects on mortality are so small it takes huge clinical trials to see them; about one person out of 1,000 screened over 10 years will avoid death from that particular cancer.