Screening Tests:
Are They Right for You?

Factors to consider before you schedule a cancer screening test.

By Shannon Brownlee

From Reader's Digest

• You have a family history. If you have close relatives with cancer, your own risk of developing it may be above average. Generally, only immediate relatives (mother, father, sibling, child) count toward your family history.
  
  
• You know you have a risky mutation. The BRCA1 and 2 mutations are known to increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Other mutations have been tied to colon cancer.
  
  
• You've already had cancer. One bout slightly increases your odds of developing another, unrelated cancer.

• You have another serious illness. Having heart disease or suffering a stroke increases the odds that you'll die before an undetected cancer could cause symptoms.
  
  
• You're under 50 or over 70. There's less evidence to support getting screened in your 40s, when cancer risk is low. After 70, the possible benefit from early treatment should be weighed against the chance that it will make life less enjoyable or more painful.
  
  
• You're frail. If you can't withstand treatment, it may not be useful to undergo a screening test.
  
  
• You're particularly afraid of being harmed by treatment you don't need.