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Screening: cancer

from Medical topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Kevin D. McCaul  and
Amber R. Koblitz
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Kevin D. McCaul
Affiliation:
North Dakota State University
Amber R. Koblitz
Affiliation:
North Dakota State University
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

Secondary prevention, or the early discovery of cancer through screening, is based on the idea that identifying a disease before symptoms develop will enable early treatment and extended survival. Screening tests to detect cancer have increased in number over the last decade, and technological advances are certain to produce many more such tests in the decade ahead. In fact, the development of technologies useful for cancer detection has outpaced research demonstrating the value of those new technologies. As a consequence, different screening tests are associated with different levels of uncertainty about whether they can accurately detect cancer and reduce deaths from cancer.

Reducing cancer deaths is an important goal. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in industrialized countries (ACS, 2004a), cancer treatment often creates significant psychological and physical suffering, and survivors continue to show poorer health outcomes compared to people who have not experienced cancer for years after treatment (Yabroff et al., 2004) (see ‘Cancer: general’). Given the potential importance of cancer screening in reducing mortality, we raise four questions: (a) What effective cancer screening tests are available? (b) How can we encourage people to adopt cancer screening behaviours? (c) What are the psychological consequences of cancer screening? and (d) What are the important directions for future psychological research concerning cancer screening?

Cancer screening technologies

An ideal cancer screening technique is reliable and accurate, carries little or no risk, allows for early detection which can lead to cancer prevention, and is inexpensive.

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Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 857 - 861
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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