Mercy Maranga Reports on Health and Fitness issues. Visit Her Site here for more information on cancer and its treatment Cancer
Cancer screening is a process of trying to detect cancer in a symptomatic people or population. Screening tests must be affordable, safe, accurate and noninvasive. Should cancer be detected, follow up tests must be done to confirm the diagnosis. Screening is crucial because in some instances it could lead to early diagnosis and therefore early treatment hence greater chances for survival. Sometimes however, it may falsely prolong the lead time to death in what is called lead time bias.
Various screening tests have been developed for specific types of cancer. Screening for breast cancer for instance can be through self-examination. Cancer screening can also be done by use of mammograms for breast cancer. Fecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy detects colorectal cancer while cervical cytology testing using a pap smear is effective in screening cervical cancer. The pap smear is easy to perform and is affordable.
Males aged 15 and over are encouraged to do self examination for testicular cancer. Digital rectal exam and prostate specific antigen are effective detection methods for prostate cancer. Prostate biopsy is a follow up procedure to diagnose prostate cancer and may have side effects such as bleeding and infection.
Before one decides to go for a cancer screening, it is crucial to asses the risks and benefits as well as the issue of treatment. It is important to note that some screening programs may not be accurate and may give false positive results. It is therefore important that follow up tests are done to verify the results.
Mercy Maranga Reports on Health and Fitness issues. Visit Her Site here for more information on cancer and its treatment Cancer