COVID-19 resulted in many medical checkups and procedures being postponed in 2020, which led to substantially fewer cancer screenings and diagnoses. As your regular health care facility now provides cancer screening, it has additional safety protocols so you can have a safe return to regular cancer screenings.
When it comes to cancer screenings, offense is the best defense:
Keep Up With Your Screenings
If you had an appointment for screening that was postponed or canceled, talk to your healthcare team about rescheduling. Your provider can discuss your personal health risks and the benefits of being screened now.
Call a Time Out and Make a Game Plan If You Have Symptoms
If you have signs or symptoms such as a lump in your breast or blood in the stool, get in touch with your provider right away and get scheduled for exams or tests to evaluate your particular signs or symptoms.
You May Have Options for Screening
Screening recommendations are general recommendations for large groups of people, but you might need to be screened at an earlier age than recommended if you have certain risk factors such as a family history of cancer.
The updated guidelines for cervical cancer screening recommend individuals aged 25 to 65 get a primary human papillomavirus (HPV) test every five years, or if primary HPV testing is not available, individuals should get a Pap test every three years. People older than age 65 can stop being screened as long as they've had 10 years of regular screening with normal results.
Many women get an annual mammogram for breast cancer screening. The American Cancer Society recommends yearly mammograms for women at average risk from ages 45 to 54, and screening every two years for women aged 55 and older. Women with risk factors such as a family history of breast cancer are recommended to start getting mammograms at an earlier age.
Colorectal cancer screening is now recommended to start at age 45 for people at average risk. There are several options for colorectal cancer screening. For example, stool tests, such as fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) or a stool DNA test (such as Cologuard), can be done with samples collected at home. If the stool test result is positive, a colonoscopy will probably be recommended. A colonoscopy is a procedure in which a long, flexible tube is used to look at the inside of the colon and rectum. A screening colonoscopy can prevent some colorectal cancers by finding and removing polyps (growths on the inner lining) before they turn into cancer. Talk with your doctor about the safest way to proceed with this screening.
Lung cancer screening is not recommended for everyone but it is recommended for people at higher risk for lung cancer, such as current smokers or former smokers who had at least a 30-pack-year smoking history. Lung cancer screening is done with a low-dose CT scan (LDCT). Your doctor can evaluate your risk of lung cancer and help you make an informed decision about the benefits, limitations, and harms of screening with LDCT scans.
Source: Winship Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society
