SINGAPORE — In Singapore, an average of 46 people were diagnosed with cancer daily and 16 people died of cancer each day for the period from 2017 to 2021.
New: You can now listen to articles.However, not all cancers have well-established, effective screening methodsdiagnosed with cancer
Women who are 25 years old and above and have ever had sex are recommended to go for cervical cancer screening.Recalling her shock upon learning of the diagnosis, she said: “I remembered wondering, ‘How is it possible?’ I felt perfectly fine – I had no symptoms, was living an active life and seldom fell sick."Having gone for treatments and survived cancer for almost five years, Ms Amaliah now encourages her family and friends to get screened regularly for peace of mind.
3. For cervical cancer, a Pap smear every three years is recommended for women in the 25 to 29 age group who have ever been sexually active. For those aged 30 and above, aThe screening methods above for colon, breasts and cervix have been shown to effectively detect cancer at an earlier stage. The procedure for a colonoscopy involves preparation the day before of drinking a laxative solution to clear out all solid contents in the intestines.
Dr Look said that the availability and uptake of screening tests in Singapore have helped detect some cancers earlier. Dr Tanujaa Rajasekaran, senior consultant medical oncologist at Parkway Cancer Centre, said that not all cancers have well-established screening methods.“On the other hand, even though lung, prostate and stomach cancers are also common, there may be challenges with implementing effective screening programmes for these cancers,” Dr Tanujaa said.
For example, the current methods to assess the pancreas is through “very invasive” scopes or computed tomography scans, which comes with radiation, Dr Ow said.Dr Ow said: “You can argue that a colonoscopy is very invasive, but the frequency that we do a colonoscopy is typically about every 10 years. And so, that's sort of worth it because we know the continuum is long.
There is also now evidence to suggest that screening may sometimes detect cancers that are very slow-growing, or indolent, that may not actually require any treatment, Dr Tanujaa said. Lead-time bias occurs when screening finds a cancer earlier, but the earlier diagnosis does not change the course of the disease.The current national screening recommendations for cervical, breast and colon cancer apply to people with average risks and no symptoms.
This may involve starting colonoscopy screening in their 40s or even earlier, depending their family history and genetic testing results, Dr Tanujaa said.Some screening packages include a panel of tumour-marker tests that claim to be able to detect certain cancers early.Dr Tanujaa said that tumour-marker tests measure certain substances in the blood, urine or tissue that can be elevated in the presence of cancer.
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