Early Detection: An Opportunity for Cancer Prevention Through Early Intervention

Cancer is the second leading disease cause of death in the United States. A group of more than 100 different and distinctive diseases, cancer may involve any tissue of the body. Estimates are that there were over 1.5 million cases in 2010 in the United States alone. Only a small fraction (less than 20%) of cancers are diagnosed at a localized stage where curative therapy is effective. Most cancers are diagnosed only after the primary tumor has already metastasized so that chemotherapy is required for treatment. Hence, early detection is a favored opportunity to reduce cancer mortality. By detecting cancer in its very earliest stages when perhaps only a small number of cells are present, it is possible that early intervention will be effective in preventing further development of the incipient cancer thereby resulting in what might be viewed as curative prevention.