Cancer Diagnosis
If the cancer screening test results were found to be positive, you will need to undergo a diagnostic test to confirm the presence or absence the disease, or other medical condition.
Diagnosis test are medical procedures:
Biopsy |
|
Laboratory test |
|
Imaging Procedures |
|
Screening tests | Diagnostic tests | |
Purpose | To detect potential disease indicators | To establish presence/absence of disease |
Target population | Large numbers of asymptomatic, but potentially at-risk individuals | Symptomatic individuals to establish diagnosis, or asymptomatic individuals with a positive screening test |
Test method | Simple, acceptable to patients and staff | Maybe invasive, expensive but justifiable as necessary to establish diagnosis |
Positive result threshold | Generally chosen towards high sensitivity not to miss potential disease | Chosen towards high specificity (true negatives). More weight given to accuracy and precision than to patient acceptability |
Positive result | Essentially indicates suspicion of disease (often used in combination with other risk factors) that warrants confirmation | Result provides a definite diagnosis |
Cost | Cheap, benefits should justify the costs since large numbers of people will need to be screened to identify small number of potential cases | Higher costs associated with diagnostic test maybe justified to establish diagnosis |
Source:
- https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/diagnosis-staging/diagnosishttp://www.medicalhealthtests.com/screening-tests-vs-diagnostic-tests-slideshow.html
- https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/disease-causation-diagnostic/2c-diagnosis-screening/screening-diagnostic-case-finding
- http://www.cancervic.org.au/living-with-cancer/survivors
To find out more on how we can help,
+63-2698 7300 | contact@cancer.org.my