Hello Sir, those tests are called screening tests.
Screening tests are performed in healthy, asymptomatic individuals with the aim of detecting cancer at an early stage, before symptoms appear.
However, screening is not done for every cancer or for every individual. The reason is that, for a disease to qualify for routine screening, certain important criteria must be met:
* The disease should be sufficiently prevalent and a significant health problem in that population,
* There should be a reliable test available to detect it before symptoms arise,
* Early detection should lead to effective treatment and improved outcomes.
For this reason, cancers like breast cancer and colon cancer have well-established screening protocols, whereas many other cancers do not.
For example, stomach cancer is much more prevalent in Japan, so they have organized screening programs starting from a younger age.
If these conditions are not met, the cost-benefit ratio becomes unfavorable—the chance of detecting cancer remains low, while unnecessary tests, scans, false positives, and patient anxiety become high.
So, screening is recommended only when the expected benefit clearly outweighs the burden of investigating a large healthy population.
Hope it clears your doubt, if any symptoms or queries consult a surgical oncologist, Thank you
Answered2026-04-28 17:18:43
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