Unit 9 Discussion – Cancer Screening

Find two screening guidelines for testicular cancer or prostate cancer.

Discuss the similarities/differences in the screening guidelines and find available resources to help encourage adherence to screening guidelines in the target population.

Your response should include evidence of review of the course material, websites, and literature through proper citations using APA format.

 

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Cancer Screening

Introduction

If you’re worried about cancer, it can be hard to figure out what’s normal and what’s abnormal. Can I have a PET scan? Is my mammogram normal or should I get another one? Should I get tested for colon cancer? Many people are told that they should have certain cancer screening tests. But sometimes the tests aren’t right for you — or might even cause more harm than good. That’s why there is so much confusion about whether to have these screenings in the first place!

It can be hard to decide whether to have cancer screening tests.

It can be hard to decide whether to have cancer screening tests. Cancer screening tests are a good way of finding abnormal changes that might not be cancer, or ones that will never cause symptoms or become life-threatening.

But there are risks involved with having these exams, such as:

• You may learn about abnormal changes in your breasts, uterus or colon. If you don’t get treatment right away after learning about an abnormal test result, it could lead to more serious health problems like bleeding and complications from surgery.

Most of the time, the benefits of having cancer screening tests outweigh the risks.

Most of the time, the benefits of having cancer screening tests outweigh the risks. However, if you are unsure about whether to have a screening test or have questions about how often it should be done, talk with your doctor.

But cancer screening tests do have some risks.

But just because cancer screening tests have risks doesn’t mean they should be avoided. In fact, they’re an important tool to help detect cancers at an early stage when treatments are more likely to work and the disease is easier to treat.

The biggest risk of cancer screening tests is that they can cause false positives—meaning a person has cancer cells but doesn’t actually have it. This may lead them to be worried about their health and get treated unnecessarily when there’s no real reason for it (or too many reasons). By contrast, false negatives tend to occur in people who have already been diagnosed with some type of cancer; these results could mean that the person hasn’t gotten all of their treatment yet or isn’t being given enough time before getting surgery/radiation therapy/chemotherapy so as not mess up any remaining healthy cells left behind after removing whatever caused those symptoms initially (e.g., tumors).

Screening is a way to find cancer before you have symptoms.

Screening is a way to find cancer before you have symptoms.

Screening tests are used to find cancer before it causes symptoms.

If you find cancer early, treatment may be less extensive and less likely to cause side effects.

If you find cancer early, treatment may be less extensive and less likely to cause side effects. This can mean fewer surgeries or other procedures, or even just one or two sessions of radiation therapy.

The goal of early detection is to catch cancer before it becomes aggressive enough to require a serious treatment plan. In some cases, this might mean that your doctor only recommends surgery after a biopsy reveals abnormal cells in your body—but this is not always the case! The key here is knowing what you have so that you can make decisions about your treatment options based on what works best for YOU.

And treatment may also be more effective.

Cancer screening is more effective in treating the cancer and less likely to spread. It can also help you avoid getting cancer in the first place, which means that fewer treatments are needed and side effects are less severe.

Cancer screening may also be able to detect cancers early enough that they can be treated with surgery or radiation therapy, which means less pain and discomfort for you during treatment.

Doctors also recommend certain screening tests for people who are at higher risk for a certain type of cancer.

Doctors also recommend certain screening tests for people who are at higher risk for a certain type of cancer. For example, if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, your doctor may recommend that you get tested every three years for these cancers.

• Breast exams: Women age 40 and older should have a breast exam every year (or more often if there are symptoms). If no abnormal changes are found during an annual mammogram, women should receive another mammogram instead of getting a biopsy (a procedure that involves taking tissue samples from the breast).

• Colorectal cancer screening: People age 50–75 with no history of colorectal polyps (a noncancerous growth) or inflammation in their bowel should be screened every year by having an upper gastrointestinal series; this test checks the entire digestive tract including the mouth, esophagus and stomach as well as colonoscopy—a procedure used to examine one’s rectum and anus

But sometimes screening tests find abnormal changes that aren’t actually cancer, or that will never cause symptoms or become life-threatening.

But sometimes screening tests find abnormal changes that aren’t actually cancer, or that will never cause symptoms or become life-threatening. These are called false positives.

False positives can be very stressful, especially if you have a family history of breast cancer. Your doctor will try to help you understand what’s happening and how best to manage the situation by giving you information about treatment options.

Finding and treating these precancerous cell changes may help prevent cervical cancer from developing later on.

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women and it causes more than 4,000 deaths each year. It is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can be prevented by vaccination. The Pap test detects abnormal cells on your cervix that may develop into cervical cancer if not treated early enough.

If you have had at least one sexual partner since age 15, it’s important to get regular screenings for HPV so you can catch this virus before it becomes serious or causes health problems later on in life.

Conclusion

So, if you’ve been thinking about getting a cancer screening test, now is the time to talk with your doctor. He or she can help you decide what test might be right for you and make sure your health insurance covers it.