Doctors promote a once-in-awhile checkup for cancer, so that if an early growth of cancer is discovered, the patient can have it removed.

Is this always the case? Or does it depend on the type of cancer?

Generally speaking if cancer is found early on a screening exam there is a sure success in removing it, but it also depends on the cancer and we only have screening exams for a few types. There are hundreds of different cancers, they are all unique and one type cannot be compared with another.

Since we began using pap smears as a screening exam the mortality rate of cervical cancer has declined by 50%. Most of these cancers are successfully removed when found early and most are found before they become invasive. However, if it is found when it is invasive, but still early in the disease at stage 1 the 5 year survival rate is 80%, so it is not a sure success, but it is pretty good.

Most of the time with breast cancer there is a sure success in removing it when found early, but the problem can be finding it early. Mammograms have an 85% accuracy rate and are able to detect breast cancer before it is palpable about 45% of the time. There is no doubt they save lives, but they are not foolproof or as accurate as we would like. Some of the success also depends on the age of the patient as the younger the patient the more aggressive the disease. Inflammatory breast cancer only occurs in 1% of all breast cancer cases and is the most dangerous. The diagnosis alone makes it a stage IIIB and therefore cannot be caught early.

Prostate cancer can usually be caught early; the problem is often with removing it. Prostate cancer tends to be multifocal requiring the entire prostate to be removed. This cancer is also typically slow growing and it is not unusual to see patients with the disease for more than 15 years even without treatment. A large number of these patients die from other causes often with little or no symptoms from the prostate cancer. Since most men are diagnosed later in life and we have ways to manage the disease many men elect not to have the prostate removed.

Our biggest success is with colon cancer. No one should ever die from colon cancer. These cancers also tend to be slow growing, although not as slow as prostate cancer. When caught early there is little to worry about, but when caught late it is deadly. These cancers almost always develop in a polyp, which can be seen and removed with colonoscopy. It is the only cancer that can be cured during a screening exam. The 5-year survival rate when caught early (stage 0 and stage 1) is 90-100%, compared to stage IV with a 5-year survival rate of only 5%.

These are the only cancers we have screening exams for. Success rates for other cancers when they are caught early largely depend on the type of cancer, the location of the tumor and if it is resectable or not.

Its nearly always the case with the exception of cancers that develop in a place where an operation is too risky - such as many types of brain cancer.

colon, cervical cancers are best treated with indicated early.