Age appropriate screening for cancer: evidence-based practice in the United States of America

Abstract

Cancer screening is a well established and integral part of routine care in the Western world including United States. Men and women are recommended to get age-specific screening for common cancers like breast, cervical, prostate, and colon. The goal of screening is primary and secondary prevention. Cancer prevention and early detection of cancers has been shown to improve survival rates and decrease mortality by prompt appropriate treatment. This article serves to outline the current guidelines in the United States for cancer screening and the evidence for them as well as discusses the possibility of a similar model of care in India as well as barriers to such a screening program for cancer. The evidence was mostly obtained from systematic reviews done by the United States Preventive Services Task Force guidelines and other peer institutions like American Cancer Society and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.