Why Should You Get the Cancer Screening Tests Done Regularly?
Do you know that every year 1.7 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed worldwide and 23% of all cases reported are of breast cancer? The figures are shocking and so is the ignorance of many women in this regard who don’t think of getting a screening done.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that around 60 million women around the globe have been screened for cancer and out of them, 25 million are in the US. In other countries, the rates of getting screened are relatively lower amongst women resulting in more deaths due to cancer.
There are a number of factors which might become the source of triggering cancerous cells in your body including your genes, medical history, or your lifestyle. Even if you are not experiencing any of the symptoms, those who are aged 20 and over should get periodic health examinations done regularly.
Important Things to Know about Screening
Any abnormalities in the breasts can be detected through breast cancer screenings and thus, it plays an essential role in the provision of an early cancer treatment. For every 1,000 women who undergo breast cancer screening, there is a likelihood of 3 to 5 diagnoses. There is enough evidence which suggests that the cancer screening programs are saving lives and rendering the disease to be curable if discovered at an early stage.
One can even discover a breast lump by self-examination but there is an 80% chance that such tumors are benign. However, there is nothing which establishes a relationship between self-examination and reduced mortality rates due to breast cancer.
Screenings and Mortality Rate
The longer you wait for the screening process, the higher becomes the risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Here are the cancer deduction rates based on time interval between different screenings:
- 1 year – 0.5% to 0.6%
- 2 year – 0.65% to 0.85%
- 3 year – 1.0% to 1.3%
The American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) both have recommended different time lapses for women belonging to varied age groups. These are:
- Less than 40 years – Annual screening
- Between 40 and 49 years – Annual and even biannual screening as evidence proposes that tumors grow rapidly in women belonging to this age group
- Between 50 and 69 years – Screening after every 18 months
- More than 70 years – Annual screening