Principles of screening for cancer

Abstract

Screening is defined as testing for a condition when the person has no recognized signs or symptoms of that condition. The purpose of screening is not to merely detect a condition, but rather to help people live better or longer. This is an important distinction: the detection of earlier disease by itself is insufficient to justify a screening program. The program must additionally demonstrate that people live longer or better because of the earlier detection. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.