Screening tests can help find cancer before you’ve even noticed symptoms. When cancer is found early, it’s often easier to treat and improves your chance of survival. But if you have questions about cancer screening, you're not alone.
We’re here to help answer your most common questions.
What are cancer screening tests?
Screening tests help find some types of cancer before you have any symptoms. It’s important to have these tests even if you feel fine and have a healthy lifestyle. Screening for cancer is a part of your regular medical care.
Screening tests for cervical and colorectal cancer can even help prevent cancer by finding changes in your body that would become cancer if they weren’t treated.
How do I know when or if I should get screened?
If you’re in a certain age or population group in Canada, you can go for regular screening tests that can help find breast, cervical, colorectal and lung cancer before you notice any symptoms.
Screening recommendations differ depending on cancer type, as well as individual family history and risk levels.
You can also talk to your healthcare provider to learn more about your risk of cancer and what screening tests you should have. Be sure to mention any family history of cancer. A family history of certain cancers may mean your risk is higher than normal.
Your doctor may suggest testing at an earlier age or using a different test than recommended by the provincial guidelines.
Find Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) recommendations and learn more about getting screened for breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer and lung cancer, as well as screening in 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
I got lucky, but we shouldn’t rely on luck. Cancer screening gives people the chance to find cancer before symptoms appear. And when cancer is found early, you have a better chance at life.
What if I am experiencing signs or symptoms?
How do I find screening programs?
Find information on how to find the screening programs available near you on each page below:
Speak with your healthcare provider, seek care or talk to one of our Cancer Information Helpline specialists at 1-888-939-3333 about finding cancer early.
What are the benefits and limitations of regular cancer screening?
- Reassures you if the result is normal.
- May help prevent cancer by finding changes in your body that would become cancer if left untreated.
- Helps find cancer early and when it’s easier to treat – before you have symptoms and before cancer spreads.
- May mean less treatment and less time spent recovering.
- Improves your chance of survival by detecting cancer at an earlier stage.
- May suggest you have cancer even though you don’t (called a false positive).
- May not detect cancer even though it is present (called false negative).
- Can find some cancers that would not necessarily lead to death or decreased quality of life (called overdiagnosis). Some cancers are slow growing or may never cause problems or need treatment. Finding these types of cancer can lead to unnecessary treatments that have side effects.
- May lead to more tests and procedures that may be harmful.
Does CCS recommend cancer screening?
When you think about how important it is to find cancer early, CCS believes the benefits of getting screened for breast, cervical, lung and colorectal cancers outweigh the limitations.
In fact, earlier this year, CCS called on provinces and territories to lower the start age of organized colorectal cancer screening programs to 45 for people at average risk, from the current age of 50. This call comes as mounting evidence shows colorectal cancer is increasingly affecting younger adults in Canada. As a result, PEI and Ontario have now updated their screening guidelines and lowered the screening age.
Learn more about the actions we recommend for breast screening, colorectal screening and other current CCS advocacy work to bring about healthy public policy and improve the lives of people facing cancer and their caregivers.
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