title: Principles of successful cancer screening.
abstract: Screening for cancer is the application of various tests to apparently healthy individuals in order to identify who among them has occult disease, which may be either invasive disease or a precursor lesion. For any given cancer site, the potential of screening to reduce morbidity and mortality is based on well-defined criteria for the evaluation of screening effectiveness and on acceptable performance to be realized in the average community setting. Screening programs are most successful when they are organized into a system that leads to high rates of participation, high quality, and constant surveillance and evaluation. If the elements that contribute to a successful screening program are not well organized and integrated, then the fullest potential of screening will not be realized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Control, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, USA. rsmith@cancer.org
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009382:Neoplasms, Unknown Primary / Q000175:diagnosis; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000175:diagnosis; D011379:Prognosis; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity