Cancer Screening Recommendations
The tests recommended for people without symptoms to find cancer or precancer early.
Last revised
Key takeaways
- Colorectal: ages 45 to 75, by stool test or colonoscopy at the recommended interval
- Breast: mammography every 2 years, ages 40 to 74
- Most useful single change: Ask your doctor which screenings are due for your age and history.
- Commonest mistake: Assuming screening replaces reporting symptoms.
- See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to get help" below apply to you.
Why it matters
Screening is recommended only where the evidence shows benefit outweighs harm, which is why there are fewer recommended tests than people expect.
The numbers, in one place
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Colorectal | ages 45 to 75, by stool test or colonoscopy at the recommended interval |
| Breast | mammography every 2 years, ages 40 to 74 |
| Cervical | ages 21 to 65, by Pap test, HPV test or both |
| Lung | yearly low-dose CT, ages 50 to 80, for those with a 20 pack-year smoking history who smoke now or quit within 15 years |
| Prostate | PSA screening is an individual decision from 55 to 69, after discussing benefits and harms |
| Key limitation | a normal result does not exclude disease |
What helps
- Ask your doctor which screenings are due for your age and history
- Complete a home stool test promptly if that is the option you choose
- Reschedule rather than letting a missed screening slide
- Report symptoms separately from screening
What to avoid
- Assuming screening replaces reporting symptoms
- Waiting for a reminder after missing a screening
- Assuming a normal result covers you until the next round
In depth
Screening means testing people who feel completely well, which is a very different situation from investigating a symptom. Because most people screened do not have cancer, any test offered to a whole population has to do more good than harm across everyone who takes it. That is why the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends only a short list of cancer screenings, each for a defined age range and interval, and why the list changes as evidence develops.
Good screening works in one of two ways. Some tests find cancer earlier, when treatment is more likely to succeed; mammography and low-dose CT for lung cancer work mainly this way. Others find precancerous changes and remove them before cancer develops at all. Colonoscopy, which can remove polyps, and cervical screening, which finds abnormal cells caused by HPV, are the best examples, and they are why screening can lower the number of people who develop these cancers in the first place.
Every screening also carries possible harms. False positives lead to anxiety and further tests, including biopsies. Overdiagnosis means finding cancers that would never have caused problems in a person's lifetime, leading to treatment that brings side effects without benefit. Procedures such as colonoscopy carry small risks of their own. Understanding this balance helps explain why more testing is not always better and why some decisions are left to you and your doctor.
Causes and risk factors
- Age, the main factor that sets when each screening starts and stops
- Smoking history, which determines eligibility for lung cancer screening
- A strong family history, which may mean earlier or more frequent testing
- Inherited gene changes such as BRCA or Lynch syndrome
- Previous polyps, abnormal cervical results or cancer, which move you to surveillance schedules
- Conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or a weakened immune system
How it is checked
Each screening has a standard pathway. For colorectal cancer you can choose between a colonoscopy, which looks at the whole colon and removes polyps in the same procedure, and stool-based tests done at home, which need repeating more often. A positive stool test is not a diagnosis, but it does mean you need a follow-up colonoscopy, and that colonoscopy is an essential part of screening rather than an optional extra. Cervical screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both, with the interval depending on which test and your age.
For breast cancer, a screening mammogram is followed by additional images or ultrasound if anything looks unclear, and a biopsy only if needed. Lung screening uses yearly low-dose CT, and small nodules are common; most are not cancer and are tracked with repeat scans. For prostate cancer, a raised PSA can come from enlargement or inflammation as well as cancer, which is why further testing such as repeat PSA, MRI or biopsy is discussed before decisions are made.
Related topics
- Cancer Screening: What Published Guidance Supports (Cancer Awareness)
- Cervical Screening: What the Evidence Actually Says (Women's Health)
- Colorectal Cancer Screening: What Published Guidance Supports (Men's Health)
- What the Guidance Really Says About Cervical Screening and HPV (Sexual Health)
Where to go next
- Cancer Screening Recommendations: The Practical To-Do List
- Myths About Cancer Screening Recommendations, Checked Against the Guidance
- Preventive Care: The Complete Guide
- What the Guidance Really Says About Blood Pressure Checks
- The Evidence on Adult Vaccination, Without the Hype
When to get help
Report new symptoms to your doctor even after a normal screening result. See your doctor promptly for a breast lump or nipple change, bleeding between periods or after menopause, a persistent change in bowel habits, blood in stool or urine, or unexplained weight loss. Call 911 for heavy bleeding with dizziness or fainting.
Where this comes from
- US Preventive Services Task Force — Colorectal Cancer: Screening
- US Preventive Services Task Force — Breast Cancer: Screening
- American Cancer Society — American Cancer Society Guidelines for the Early Detection of Cancer
How this page was put together
Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarized or generalized beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.
Medical disclaimer
This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to your doctor, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 911.