04/02/2022
The world is going through a pandemic, which effectively highlighted the loopholes in our healthcare system. There have been various such diseases that have caused high death tolls, one among them is Cancer. It is the second leading cause of death across the world. We celebrate World Cancer Day on 4th February every year. The main aim to celebrate this day is to make people aware of how to identify the symptoms of cancer, educate people, as well as to prepare government and non-governmental organizations to help in fighting this deadly disease all over the world. Not only this, the aim of celebrating World Cancer Day is to reduce the misconceptions about cancer and to help people in getting the right information about it.
This year’s theme is “Close the Care Gap”, everybody deserves cancer care. It focuses mainly on the availability of life-saving cancer care to everyone irrespective of the paying capacity.
There can be two main reasons detected for the same:
1. Poor health infrastructure
2. Lack of awareness among the people due to which the diagnosis is usually delayed causing a high risk of mortality.
One of the major ways to reduce cancer deaths is Cancer screening tests. These are tests that detect cancerous cells in the pre-symptomatic stage, which helps to detect cancer at early stages which has been found to lower the mortality rate. Many cancer screening tests are used, all of them are helpful in detecting early-stage cancers, whereas a few of them have even shown a decline in mortality rate.
Screening Tests That Have Been Shown to Reduce Cancer Deaths
· Colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and high-sensitivity f***l occult blood tests (FOBTs) Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy help prevent and reduce the death rate of colore**al cancer because they can detect abnormal colon growths (polyps) that can be removed before they develop into cancer.
· Low-dose helical computed tomography- This test to screen for lung cancer has been shown to reduce lung cancer deaths
· Mammography- This method to screen for breast cancer has been shown to reduce mortality from the disease among women ages 40 to 74, especially those age 50 or older.
· Pap test and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing- These tests reduce the incidence of cervical cancer because they allow abnormal cells to be identified and treated before they become cancer.
Other Screening Tests
Alpha-fetoprotein blood test- This test is sometimes used, along with ultrasound of the liver, to try to detect liver cancer early in people at high risk of the disease.
· CA-125 test- This blood test, which is often done together with a transvaginal ultrasound, may be used to try to detect ovarian cancer early, especially in women with an increased risk of the disease.
· PSA test- This blood test, which is often done along with a digital re**al exam, is able to detect prostate cancer at an early stage.
