Cancer screening

Overview

Population-based screening is an organised, systematic and integrated process of testing for signs of cancer or pre-cancerous conditions in populations without obvious symptoms. Programs target specific populations and/or age groups where evidence shows screening to be most effective.

More reports and statistics on cancer screening can be found under Cancer.

Latest findings

Participation in cervical screening was higher in HPV-vaccinated women than in unvaccinated women Of the 3.2 million people invited between January 2015 and December 2016, 41% participated in the NBCSP The median time from positive screening test result to diagnostic assessment was 54 days Screen-detected bowel cancers less likely to cause death than bowel cancers diagnosed in people never invited to screen Screen-detected cervical cancers less likely to cause death than cervical cancers diagnosed in never-screened women Screen-detected breast cancers less likely to cause death than breast cancers diagnosed in never-screened women Since the program began in August 2006, about 4.4 million NBCSP screening tests have been completed

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Highlights

Screen-detected bowel cancers less likely to cause death than bowel cancers diagnosed outside the program

55%of women aged 20–69 (more than 3.8 million women) participated in cervical screening in 2015–2016

Screen-detected cervical cancers less likely to cause death than cervical cancers diagnosed in never-screened women

Participation in cervical screening was higher in HPV-vaccinated women than in unvaccinated women

Screen-detected breast cancers less likely to cause death than breast cancers diagnosed in never-screened women

143women aged 20–69 died from cervical cancer in 2015

Screen-detected bowel cancers were more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier cancer stage

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