Recommended Tests

The following tests are recommended by the American Cancer Society:

Breast Cancer

The current goal of screening for breast cancer is to discover the cancer in asymptomatic women at an early and treatable stage. The ACS recommends that women begin monthly breast self-examination (BSE) at age 20. Between 20 and 39 years of age, women should undergo a clinical breast examination (CBE), performed by a health care professional, once every three years. Beginning at age 40, women should undergo a CBE and mammography every year. These guidelines should be individualized to the patient: women with a family history of breast cancer, for example, are candidates for more aggressive or more frequent screening.

Cervical Cancer

Women should begin annual screening for cervical cancer via a Papanicolaou (Pap) test after they initiate sexual activity or at 18 years of age, whichever comes first. After three consecutive negative Pap tests, at the discretion of the doctor, screening can be performed less frequently.

Adenomatous Polyps and Colorectal Cancer

Colon cancer can be stopped before it starts if precancerous polyps are found and removed through screening endoscopy (colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy), thereby avoiding the disease completely. When colorectal cancer is caught at an early stage, it has a 90 percent survival rate. While those who have a family history of the disease are at increased risk, the majority of cases occur in people whose only risk factor is their age. Therefore, everyone over 50 should be screened.

Screening consists of one of the following: annual fecal occult blood test (FOBT); flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years; annual FOBT plus flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years; double contrast barium enema every five years; or colonoscopy every 10 years.

Prostate Cancer

The ACS recommends that men 50 years or older undergo the prostate-specific antigen test and a digital rectal examination every year, if they have a life expectancy of at least 10 years. Men at high risk (including men of African descent or those with a first-degree relative diagnosed at a younger age) should begin testing at age 45.