Читать книгу Overcome the Challenges of Cancer Care - M. D. Rosenberg - Страница 9

Finding cancer can be difficult. Cancer can spread to other parts of the body, leading to vague symptoms. We want to catch cancer early, before it has a chance to spread. That’s the goal of screening, which can help us find cancer before a patient has symptoms.

There are lots of types of screening tests for various types of cancer, depending on a person’s age and risk factors. Some tests, such as mammograms (breast cancer screening), are recommended by almost everyone. Others, such as PSA tests (prostate cancer screening), are controversial.

How do you know whether a screening test is recommended? The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is a group of experts that gives grades to screening tests. Grade A means they recommend its use for the general public. Grade D means the task force recommends against using a particular test. Here are some common screening tests:

1 Breast cancer screenings with mammograms, age 50 to 74: Grade B

2 Colon cancer screenings with colonoscopies, age 50 to 75: Grade A

3 Prostate cancer screenings with PSA: Recently changed from Grade D to Grade C

4 Lung cancer screenings with CT scans, age 55 to 80: Grade B

5 Skin cancer screenings with regular skin exams: Grade I—unable to make a recommendation

Screening recommendations are constantly evolving as new information becomes available—as we saw with prostate cancer screenings. Unfortunately, some screening programs are effective but have not been widely adopted (like lung cancer screening) for a variety of reasons. This may be due to a lack of knowledge or resources. For many types of cancers, such as lymphoma, we don’t have good screening tests. For other cancers, even if we find them early, we don’t have good treatments (like pancreatic cancer). This is frustrating for patients, families, and doctors. Doctors are moving toward more screening and prevention to improve outcomes for patients.

To look at the screening tests available for all sorts of diseases, check out the USPSTF website, listed in the resources at the end of this book.