Principles of cancer screening
Screening in healthcare is the process of identifying apparently healthy individuals in a given population who either have an early stage asymptomatic disease or are at a higher risk of developing a disease. The goal of a screening test is an early diagnosis of a disease, which then can be effective...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Surgery (Oxford) 2024-03, Vol.42 (3), p.170-176 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Screening in healthcare is the process of identifying apparently healthy individuals in a given population who either have an early stage asymptomatic disease or are at a higher risk of developing a disease. The goal of a screening test is an early diagnosis of a disease, which then can be effectively managed at an early stage resulting in a reduced disease-specific or overall mortality. It can be used for a variety of health conditions and across a broad spectrum of population depending on the health condition. Screening for cancers started in the mid-20th century with the introduction of screening for cervical cancers, and has since been tested for and extended to a number of other cancers. In this article we discuss the principles of cancer screening including characteristics of screening tests, benefits and limitations of screening programs in a population, followed by a brief overview of current cancer screening programs in the UK. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0263-9319 1878-1764 |