After heart disease, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. Many of the exams and tests recommended for the general population (people without symptoms or known risk factors) are tests for cancer. The cancer detection tool kit includes several screening methods:
Self exams (exams that you conduct on yourself, such as a breast exam)
Clinical exams (exams that are conducted by a health care provider)
Laboratory tests (tests that involve analyzing a sample taken from your body, such as blood)
Imaging technologies (procedures that produce images of structures in your body, such as with MRI, X-ray, and ultrasound)
This article was last reviewed on September 17, 2008.
This article was last modified on April 8, 2009.
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