Cancer Screening: Patient and Population Strategies

Although cancer has been the second leading cause of death for close to 100 years, progress has been made in reducing cancer mortality and morbidity, with the adoption of high-quality screening tests and treatment advances delivered at earlier stages of diagnosis. To achieve the high cancer screening rates demonstrated by some practices, proven effective strategies need to be broadly adopted at both the patient and population levels. Factors affecting cancer screening test completion and approaches to improvement are described both generally and for breast, lung, cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancers. Closing the racial disparity gap is a critical component of reaching cancer screening and prevention goals.