Staying Healthy Screening Cancer Check-up Competency Health Exams Listen Choice Sources

The “Cancer Checkup”

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)

These methods allow early detection of skin, colorectal, mouth, breast, cervical, prostate, and testicular cancer, many of which are treatable if detected early.