常见问题:癌症筛检
General Questions
Q. 癌症筛检的目的是什么?
A. Cancer screening is a medical attempt to find cancer or the changes that may lead to cancer at the earliest possible point, 在症状出现之前, in order to remove or treat these abnormal cells before they can cause illness or perhaps shorten a person's life. A screening test does not itself treat cancer but can start the process by which cancers are diagnosed and treated.
Q. 什么是好的筛选测试?
A. An effective cancer screening test is one that has been validated in well-conducted studies and shown to help lower the likelihood of a tested person dying from cancer. Screening tests are most effective when a certain type of cancer is common within a particular community or within a group that is at particularly high risk of developing that cancer.
Q. 真的有不好的筛选测试吗?
A. Yes. A test that might find cancer but produces no noticeable benefit to the persons screened (for example, using regular chest x-rays in an attempt to find lung cancer; this approach has been evaluated and found to be of no value) is a poor choice.
Q. 癌症筛查指南是如何制定的?
A. Panels of health care experts examine the published results of clinical investigations and determine whether a particular test is beneficial or not helpful; recommendations are made by consensus. In some instances, there may as yet not be enough information to decide if a test is useful. Guidelines are meant to assist making good decisions about health care but they are not ironclad rules.
Q. 为什么专家们对癌症筛查存在分歧?
A. Sometimes the information conflicts; different panels may interpret the information differently. Sometimes new information comes to light that changes a previous recommendation. It is often difficult to make recommendations that will fit every case.
Breast Cancer
Q. 乳房x光检查和3D乳房x光检查有什么区别?
A. A conventional mammogram is similar to a standard x-ray; it looks at the breast tissue as a flat object. A 3D mammogram is more like a CT scan of the breast; it allows for an appreciation of the depth of the breast tissue and can be better at detecting subtle changes.
Q. 什么是乳房意识?
A. Familiarity with the specifics of one's own body and its changes. The idea is that this should make it easier to identify a potentially abnormal change early. However, there is no proof that breast self-examination helps to reduce the likelihood of dying from breast cancer; it does lead to a higher number of breast biopsies and helps find non-cancerous breast changes.
Cervical Cancer
Q. 我知道巴氏涂片检查，但什么是HPV检测?
A. HPV stands for human papillomavirus, which is now known to have a direct link to cervical cancer. 该测试检测病毒的遗传密码, 一种在组织中发现病毒的非常灵敏的方法. The availability of this test means women may now be tested less frequently than in the past without jeopardizing their health.
Colorectal Cancer
Q. Can a virtual colonoscopy replace the standard colonoscopy test?
A. Virtual colonoscopy is a type of specialized radiology test using CT machines that is being investigated for its ability to find colon cancer and pre-cancerous changes in the colon. There is as yet no proof that this test is a good substitute for standard colonoscopy.
Lung Cancer
Q. I have never smoked, but I am regularly exposed to second-hand smoke. 我应该接受肺癌筛查吗?
A. Current screening guidelines apply only to active smokers or those who have quit smoking within the past 15 years. There is no information now available that has shown a benefit to screening nonsmoking persons exposed to second-hand smoke.
Prostate Cancer
Q. 我对前列腺癌的指南很困惑. PSA测试怎么了?
A. The accumulated experience from several very large clinical investigations has raised considerable doubt as to the benefit of screening all men of a certain age for prostate cancer. As much as 40% of prostate cancers found through screening may never cause health problems for the affected persons because they are very slow-growing and unlikely to spread. But treatment for prostate cancer can be quite injurious and produce many adverse effects on a man's quality of life, possibly even leading to an earlier death from some other cause such as heart disease. The best current advice regarding testing for prostate cancer is to have a careful discussion of the risks and benefits with your personal health care provider who is best able to apply this information to your particular circumstance.
Skin Cancer
Q. 皮肤癌的危险因素有哪些?
A. Cumulative exposure to ultraviolet radiation is the major risk factor associated with skin cancers that are not melanoma. The risk factors for melanoma are somewhat more varied; again, sun exposure (especially a history of severe sunburns sustained in childhood and teenage years), 日光浴床的使用, 某些类型的摩尔都有贡献. You should discuss your circumstances with your health care provider to determine whether and how often a thorough skin examination should be done.
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