Cancer Detection

Early cancer detection is an extremely important factor in successful treatment. According to the American Cancer Society, "For most… cancers, early detection has been proven to reduce mortality."

You may be a good candidate for cancer testing if you have a family history of cancer as well as other risk factors. A healthcare professional will help you understand your risk for cancer and the tests that may be done to screen for it. Some tests may determine if you have cancer even before you develop symptoms. The early detection of cancer may allow for an earlier treatment, which has a better chance of working.

Unfortunately, not all cancers can be screened for or detected early. Some of the more common types of cancer detected through screening are:

• Breast cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Colorectal cancer

Beyond specialized medical tests, such as the Pap test, endoscopy, and MRI, two efficient ways to detect cancer are visual observation and palpation.

Direct observation allows a patient or a doctor to examine for suspicious lumps, changes in the size and shape of moles, and lesions on the external parts of the body such as the skin, lip, and eye.

Palpation, a physical examination in which the fingers are pressed into the body to feel for out-of-place masses and tumors, is often used to detect breast, testicular, and prostate cancers, among others, and to examine the size of lymph nodes, which often become the site of a cancer’s metastasis.

Remember, the earlier cancer is detected, the greater chance one has of beating it .