What is cancer screening?
Cancer screening is the method by which cancer can be detected in the early stage when the patient does not have any symptoms. Therefore, it helps in the curative treatment of cancer and thus prolongs life.
How does it help the general population?
Increase in age is one of the risk factors for some cancers like breast, colon, cervical, and prostate cancer. So, the general population and individuals with certain risk factors should be screened for cancers as recommended by regulatory authorities, thus cancer can be detected early and managed accordingly.
What are the different screening methods?
Generally, cancer screening methods are non-invasive. These can be either blood tests, radiological imaging, or endoscopy procedures. Methods depend on the cancer you are screened for. For example, breast cancer is screened by mammography, colon cancer by colonoscopy, cervical cancer by pap smear, etc.
Does all cancers are screened by cancer screening?
No, all cancers cannot be screened. For a cancer to be screened, it should be detected in the early stages, have a long latency period to develop into a full-blown cancer, and have treatments available for the diagnosed cancer. Therefore, cancers with these properties are screened, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, and colon cancer. Others include ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, oral cancers, and lung cancers.
What are the current cancer screening guidelines?
Discussing screening guidelines is very extensive. But for general information: breast cancer screening should start at 40 years of age, colon cancer screening should start at 50 years of age, and cervical cancer screening from the age of 21 years. Other cancers like oral cancers, lung cancers, and prostate cancers are screened depending on the risk factors.
Is there any harm by cancer screening methods?
As discussed, screening methods are generally non-invasive blood tests, radiological imaging, and endoscopy procedures. Side effects with these methods are either none or minimal. So any individual interested in screening for cancer can go for the method with confidence after discussing with a physician regarding the specific method of testing.