What is screening?
Screening means testing for a disease when a person doesn’t have any symptoms.
Screening is different to diagnostic testing. Diagnostic testing is used to confirm the disease when a person already has symptoms.
Screening can be population-based or individual:
- population-based screening is when everyone in a certain group – such as all women over 50 or all newborn babies – is offered screening as part of an organised program
- individual screening is when your health professional recommends a test at one of your routine appointments – such as a blood test to check cholesterol.
Why cancer screening is important
Some types of cancer can be detected before any symptoms appear. Cancer can take a long time to develop, and screening can find cancer while it is still in its early stages. It can also find changes to cells before they become cancer, or identify infections that may cause cancer in the future.
By finding cancer at an early stage, there is a better chance that treatment will work and the person will survive.
Regular screening is important. This is because no screening test is 100% accurate and your body changes over time.
If you are worried that you might have symptoms of the disease, see your doctor, even if you have recently had a screening test.
If you know you have a higher risk of getting a disease, see your doctor – don’t wait until you are eligible for the population-based screening program.
What cancer screening is available
There are 4 population-based cancer screening programs in Australia:
- BreastScreen Australia Program
- National Bowel Cancer Screening Program
- National Cervical Screening Program
- National Lung Cancer Screening Program.
How we decide what to screen for
The The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program and National Cervical Screening Program are based on the Population-based Screening Framework. This framework helps us decide whether the benefits of screening will outweigh the risks. It is based on principles developed by the World Health Organization.
Under the framework, we consider who will benefit and whether:
- the condition has a pre-symptomatic stage that can be found by screening
- there is a suitable test to identify the condition
- there is a suitable treatment for people who are diagnosed through screening
- there are facilities available for testing and treatment.
The National Lung Cancer Screening Program was based on the Medical Services Advisory Committee’s (MSAC) recommendation to introduce a national (targeted) lung cancer screening program that would:
- support early diagnosis
- achieve better health outcomes
- save lives from lung cancer.
MSAC’s recommendations are in line with the Australian Cancer Plan and the National Tobacco Strategy. Their recommendations helped us decide who to screen for the program by targeting people who are at highest risk of developing lung cancer.
The program screens people with no signs or symptoms suggesting they may have lung cancer and:
- are aged between 50 to 70 years old
- who smoke tobacco cigarettes or have a history of cigarette smoking (quit within the last 10 years).
National Cancer Screening Register
We record and report cancer screening results for the bowel, cervical and lung screening programs in our National Cancer Screening Register. This helps us remind participants when their next screening test is due.
Other cancer screening
Prostate cancer and skin cancer are important health conditions for Australians, but we do not yet have population-based screening programs for these conditions.
The former Standing Committee on Screening previously provided advice about possible new cancer screening programs in Australia. The committee has written statements to explain these decisions: