Early detection and cancer screenings
With cancer, early detection can save your life. Catching cancer early — before it's had a chance to spread to other organs and before symptoms surface — can make it easier to treat and cure. In turn, early detection of cancer increases your chances of survival.
The best advice is to be vigilant about your health, and work with your primary care physician to understand and follow the American Cancer Society's screening guidelines. Your physician can recommend appropriate screenings during your annual wellness visits. If there is a suspicion of cancer, your physician will guide you to the HonorHealth Virginia G. Piper Cancer Care Network where you’ll have access to cancer care experts near you.
If cancer is discovered, the earlier detection will be helpful, as a cancer physician plans your personalized treatment, taking into consideration the type and stage of your cancer.
Which type of cancer screening do I need?
Discuss with your primary care doctor which cancer screenings are appropriate for you. Find a primary care doctor near you.
How do you detect cancer early?
Screening exams can aid in the early detection of many cancers, including cancers of the breast, colon, cervix, prostate, lung, skin and more. What type of cancer screening exam is right for you depends on factors such as your:
- Age
- Sex
- Race
- Personal health history
- Family history
Although guidelines suggest that you have cancer screenings at some point in your life, screening tests may be done sooner or more frequently if you have a known risk factor such as:
- A personal history of cancer
- Two or more first-degree family members (parent or sibling) who've had cancer
- A gene mutation linked to a specific type of cancer
Cancer screenings at HonorHealth
At HonorHealth, you have access to an array of cancer screening services. Your physician will help you decide which screening exams are right for you and when they make the most sense.
A cancer screening may include:
- A physical exam
- Blood, urine and tissue tests
- Medical imaging tests that let specialists see the organs, vessels and bones in your body
- Genetic counseling and testing, available at HonorHealth, to look for gene mutations that can determine whether you have a genetic predisposition to cancer
Among the most common and widely used cancer screening exams and procedures are:
- Digital mammography to check for breast cancer
- Colonoscopy to check for colon and rectal cancers
- Pap test to check for cervical cancer
- Prostate-specific antigen test to check for prostate cancer
- Skin screenings to look for suspicious moles and growths or skin cancers
- Low-dose cat scan (LDCT) for lung cancer screening
If cancer screening shows an abnormality, more testing will confirm a diagnosis.
HonorHealth also periodically conducts select cancer screenings at community events and health fairs. Search for upcoming cancer screenings. To learn more about cancer screenings, contact a cancer navigator by email or call 855-485-4673.
Unfortunately, not every cancer type has a designated screening exam. For instance, there's no routine test or procedure to screen for pancreatic cancer. The HonorHealth Research Institute is conducting a comprehensive Biomarker Pancreatic Cancer Study to advance early detection for pancreatic cancer.