Cervical cancer

• Screening via smear test to identify early potentially cancerous changes to cervical cells (dyskaryosis, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia)
• In the UK women are offered screening every 3 years from the age of 25 to 64
• Screening will continue despite the introduction of the HPV vaccine because the time lag between infection and appearance of disease can be 40-50 years

Breast cancer

• In the UK women 50 to 70 years are offered a mammogram every 3 years
• Women from families with BRCA1, BRCA2 and p53 mutations require intensive screening starting from an earlier age

Colorectal cancer

• Faecal occult blood is a cheap test for the detection of colorectal cancer
• Screening program in the UK for patients 60-64 years
• Positive FOB → colonoscopy currently gold standard, CT virtual colonography is becoming increasingly available

Prostate cancer

• Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is associated with a range of conditions affecting the prostate, including prostate cancer
• Screening using PSA is controversial due to range of conditions which caused raised PSA e.g. benign prostate hyperplasia

Epithelial ovarian cancer

• Serum CA125 can be used for the early detection of this cancer
• Can improve early detection rates but at the cost of many unnecessary laparotomies