Cancer Diagnostics: How to Improve Your Chances for Successful Treatment

Cancer diseases represent one of the most serious threats to human health in the modern world. Every year the number of malignant tumors first diagnosed in grown ups and kids is increasing, so it is extremely important for a person to be able to detect the disease in time and start treatment as early as possible to achieve a durable remission.

Thanks to modern diagnostic methods, timely detection and successful control of cancer disease have become possible for everyone. In this article, we will explore why diagnostics are crucial for cancer patients.

Early diagnostics

One of the keys to successful treatment of cancer is early diagnostics.

Malignant tumors detected in their early stages are in most cases very treatable, and patients are given a chance for a long, disease-free life after treatment is completed.

Early diagnostics allows to detect the problem and start treatment at the stage when the chances of complete recovery or long-term remission are the highest.

One excellent proven strategy for early diagnostics is cancer screening. The essence of cancer screening is as follows: a healthy person undergoes various examinations at regular intervals to check the condition of a number of organs where malignant tumors or any precancerous changes may develop. This is done in order to detect the problem as early as possible, if it occurs, and to start treatment.

Regular screening programs help reduce deaths from certain cancers. For example, mass screening of cervical cancer reduces the death rate from this type of cancer by as much as 67% if 70% of women are screened as recommended, researchers report in Nature Medicine.

There are many methods of early screening, each aimed at detecting certain cancers. Here are examples of the most common ones:

Mammography

Mammography is the main method of breast cancer screening and is an X-ray examination of the mammary glands with the help of a special apparatus: mammograph. This method allows you to detect small tumors that cannot even be palpated in the breast yet. As a rule, screening mammography is performed every 2-3 years for women over 40 years old.

Colonoscopy

Colonoscopy is used for screening of colon and rectal cancer. The procedure allows examination of the inside of the bowel and the detection of polyps or malignant growths. “The gold standard” is to perform this procedure with medicated sleep to reduce discomfort for the patient. Screening colonoscopy is most often performed on people over the age of 45 every 5-10 years.

Pap test and human papillomavirus test

Pap test or Papanicolaou test (cytologic examination of a cervical smear) and human papillomavirus (HPV) test are the main methods of cervical cancer screening. The Pap test detects precancerous changes in cervical cells, while the HPV test detects the presence of a virus that can lead to precancerous and then malignant changes in the cervix. Women are generally recommended to start screening at age 21 and get screened every 3 to 5 years.

PSA test

The prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test is used to screen for prostate cancer. PSA levels in the blood can be elevated in the presence of prostate cancer and a number of non-oncologic prostate diseases. It is recommended that men over the age of 50 discuss the need for this test with their doctor.

Low-dose CT scanning

Low-dose computed tomography (CT) is used to screen for lung cancer in people at high risk, such as smokers, ex-smokers over age 55, and people with chronic lung disease. This method can detect small changes in the lungs that may be malignant and that are not seen on a regular X-ray.

Screening programs have both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are:

• Reduced mortality from certain cancers,

• Preserving the quality of life of people whose cancer is detected at an early stage through screening,

• Reducing the cost of anti-cancer treatment, as patients may require less intensive and less time-consuming therapy in the early stages,

• Maintaining people's psychological comfort by reducing anxiety and fear for their health.

  
  

Among the disadvantages are:

• Overdiagnosis: when screening detects benign tumors that would not have affected the patient's quality of life and would not have required treatment had they not been detected,

• False positives: when the problem detected by screening is not cancer, but the patient has to go through all the stress of examinations and waiting for a diagnosis,

• False negatives: when the cancer may go undetected for whatever reason, giving a false sense of security.

  
  

Nevertheless, even with the disadvantages, screening and early diagnosis of cancer has saved many patient's lives, so their importance cannot be underestimated.

Determining the stage of the disease

Diagnostics plays a key role in determining the stage of cancer. Staging allows doctors to understand how far the disease has spread, which organs are affected by the tumor, and based on this determine the best treatment tactics and prognosis for the patient's recovery.

Each malignant tumor behaves in a certain way: it can grow into the surrounding tissues and organs, spread with the flow of blood and lymph to the lymph nodes and other organs of the human body. Knowing these features of the behavior of malignant tumors, doctors can conduct certain diagnostic tests to find out where in the body the tumor is located and where it has managed to spread.

For each type of cancer there are diagnostic standards developed by scientists. The main outcome of a patient's examination, according to these standards, will be to determine the exact diagnosis and its stage.

Personalization of treatment

Cancer diseases are diverse and can run differently in different patients. Diagnostics allows for molecular and genetic testing of the tumor, which helps determine its specific characteristics. This, in turn, allows physicians to develop individualized treatment plans that focus on the specific characteristics of the disease in a given patient.

One example of individualizing treatment is the use of targeted drug therapy. During a microscopic examination of a piece of tumor that was taken from a patient via biopsy, a pathomorphologist can perform various tests and identify genetic mutations or specific molecules in the tumor. Based on the results of this analysis, the oncologist will later be able to select drugs for the patient that will interact specifically with these molecules in the tumor, specifically destroying malignant cells and minimally affecting healthy cells, because healthy cells do not have molecules like those in the tumor. This type of treatment may kill the tumor more specifically and cause fewer side effects than standard chemotherapy.

Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of treatment

Diagnostic procedures are important not only at the stage of diagnosis, but also during the treatment process. Regular diagnostic tests make it possible to evaluate how effective the chosen treatment is. If the results of examinations performed on the patient show that the tumor has not shrunk, and perhaps even increased - this will lead the doctor to think that the prescribed treatment is not effective enough and it needs to be changed.

The opposite can also be true: the patient undergoes follow-up examinations, which show that the tumor is shrinking, indicating that the chosen therapy is working and can be continued.

Monitoring the health status of the cancer patient after treatment

Completion of the main stage of cancer treatment does not mean that a person will forget the road to the oncologist forever. Post-treatment follow-up is critical for the timely detection of recurrences, evaluation of the effectiveness of treatment and detection of side effects of therapy.

Patients will have periodic diagnostic tests after completing cancer treatment to ensure that the tumor has not returned and their health is not threatened.

In addition, cancer treatment can cause a number of side effects that will also need to be monitored through regular tests and examinations. Post-treatment diagnosis provides an opportunity to be as attentive as possible to the cancer patient's health and not to miss health problems.

Psychological importance of diagnostics for cancer patients

Having a clear understanding of their condition helps patients cope with emotional stress and fear of the unknown. Knowing the exact diagnosis and stage of the disease allows the patient and their close ones to better plan the next steps and focus on treatment and recovery.

Diagnostics plays a key role in all stages of cancer management, from early detection to post-treatment follow-up. It ensures the timely detection of cancer, enables the selection of the most effective therapies and evaluates their success.

Regular health monitoring after treatment helps to detect recurrences and manage side effects, which significantly improves the quality of life and psychological well-being of patients. Modern diagnostic and screening methods are powerful tools in the arsenal of physicians aimed at reducing mortality and improving cancer treatment outcomes.

Therefore, the development and implementation of advanced diagnostic technologies remains a priority in oncology.