- Cancer screening tests are aimed to detect cancer at early stage, even before signs and symptoms develop
- Detecting cancer at early stage may have a better treatment outcome
- Regular screenings are encouraged to reduce your cancer risk, especially the high risk population
- Ask your doctor about your screening plan based on your cancer risk factors
Screening tests are cancer-specific. Below are some examples of screening tests for each cancer:
- Breast cancer:
- Mammogram
- Ultrasound
- Cervical cancer:
- Pap smear / test
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing
- Colorectal cancer:
- Fecal occult blood test (FOBT)
- Colonoscopy
- Lung cancer:
- Low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan
- Prostate cancer:
- Digital rectal examination (DRE)
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test
Risk of cancer screening:
Although screening tests are crucial to detect cancer earlier, however, there are also some risks associated with it.
- Additional testing
- Undertake screening tests that are not necessary, of which can be invasive, costly and unnecessarily stressful and worrying.
- False-positive results
- Test results that show a person has cancer when it is not
- False-negative results
- Test results that show a person does not have cancer when it is.
- Overdiagnosis
- Test results that found slow-growing cancer that would not have harmed during a person’s lifetime.
Source:
For cancer information,
1-800-88-1000 | help@cancer.org.my
