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Health
Cancer Screening
Since the establishment
of the Europe against Cancer Programme in 1985, cancer rates have
dropped overall by 10%. However, it is estimated that approximately
one European in four will die of cancer.
The European Parliament has voted on the Mussa Report on the Commission's
recommendion for best practice on three cancer screening tests:
- pap smear
screening for cervical abnormalities (starting between the ages
of 20-30);
- mammography
screening for breast cancer (in women aged 50-69);
- faecal
occult blood screening for bowel cancer (in men and women aged
50-74).
Other tests
may also be recommended once research shows that they meet the criteria
for organised cancer screening. For example, the effectiveness of
the PSA (prostate-specifc antigen) test for prostate cancer is currently
being evaluated.
John Bowis said: "Cures for cancer are still being sought,
but year by year we see progress. The formerly
unmentionable disease has, to some extent, overcome the stigma,
not least because of advances in medical science giving hope to
patients and families. These depend on early diagnosis, which comes
from screening.
"This is
a welcome document to help spread best practice in the fight against
cancer, particularly during the week of National Cancer Awareness
Day. There is need for still more research into new tests, and screening
tests must be available to all workers exposed to mutagenic and
carcinogenic substances.
"Screening
for bowel cancer - new in the UK - is the first screening test available
to men. It will be interesting to see how men react to screening
programmes in terms of take-up and whether their general health-seeking
behaviours are improved as a result. Prostate cancer has now overtaken
lung cancer as the most common cause of cancer in British men. It
is therefore crucial to continue to raise awareness of symptoms
and to invigorate our efforts to develop a screening test for this
cancer."
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