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

Of those assessed in 2018 after a positive screen, 1 in 30 were diagnosed with a confirmed or suspected cancer Of the 5 million people invited to screen between January 2017 and December 2018, 42% participated 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 6.8 million NBCSP screening tests have been completed The re-participation rate in 2017–2018 for people who had taken part in their previous invitation round was 80% Screen-detected cervical cancers less likely to cause death than cervical cancers diagnosed in never-screened women Screen-detected bowel cancers less likely to cause death than bowel cancers diagnosed in people never invited to screen Participation in cervical screening was higher in HPV-vaccinated women than in unvaccinated women

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Cancer screening Participation

Latest rates, trends & data visualisations.

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Highlights

Screen-detected bowel cancers less likely to cause death than bowel cancers diagnosed outside the program
54–56%of women aged 20–69 (about 3 million women) participated in cervical screening between January 2016 and June 2017
Screen-detected cervical cancers less likely to cause death than cervical cancers diagnosed in never-screened women
Screen-detected bowel cancers were more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier cancer stage
Screen-detected breast cancers less likely to cause death than breast cancers diagnosed in never-screened women
140women aged 20–69 died from cervical cancer in 2017
Participation in cervical screening was higher in HPV-vaccinated women than in unvaccinated women