Benefits and risks of screening
-
Benefits of having colorectal cancer screening:
.jpg "Cheer up!")
-
Early cancer detection may lead to higher rates of successful treatment
-
Successful treatment may prevent the progression of cancer
-
Treatment for early stage cancer may be mild and lead to less side effects
-
Potential risks of having colorectal cancer screening:
.jpg "A senior with worrying face")
-
It may fail to detect cancer even when it is present, thereby providing false reassurance
-
It may cause false alarm, unnecessary anxiety and potentially risky investigations to be done, when there is actually no cancer
-
The screening test itself, subsequent investigations and treatment may have side effects