Have you thought about your next cancer screenings?
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Why are routine cancer screenings important?
There are a variety of reasons someone may get cancer: lifestyle, environment, and infectious disease are the most common causes for preventable cancers. But some cancers aren’t preventable, which is why it is important to talk to your doctor about your risk level and when you should start screening for specific cancers.
Routine cancer screenings and early intervention saves lives. Many of the most common forms of cancer have high five-year survival rates when the cancer is detected in the localized stage, which is when the cancer hasn’t spread outside of its area of origin, it may also be called stage one cancer.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent data on cancer survivability, when detected in the localized stage, female breast cancer has a 98.4% five-year survivability rate, prostate Cancer has a 100% five-year survivability rate, and lung cancer has 63.3% five-year survivability rate.
Cancer Diagnoses in Oregon
The Oregon Health Authority says “In Oregon, approximately 20,000 people are newly diagnosed with an invasive cancer each year” and between 2016 and 2020, 2,146 people received new cancer diagnoses in Klamath County.
In Oregon, the most common types of cancer, based on new cancer diagnosis, are: breast, prostate, lung and bronchus, colon and rectum, corpus and uterus, melanomas of the skin, urinary bladder, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney and renal pelvis, and pancreas. At Sky Lakes, our most common cancer diagnoses are prostate, breast, skin, lung, and colon cancers.
Know your risk
Cancers like breast and prostate are not always preventable with lifestyle choices, which is why knowing your risk and being on top of regular screenings are important to survivability. For example, all men are at risk of prostate cancer and 13 out of 100 men will develop it. Additionally, three out of four women who get breast cancer don’t have a family history of the disease.
When should you talk to your care team about cancer screenings?
Cancer takes away a lot of your choice and freedom but choosing to be proactive about your health can help you keep some of that control in the event of a cancer diagnosis. Communicating with your health care team about your risk for certain cancers and completing recommended screenings can give you peace of mind.
Some cancers you should start routine screenings for at certain ages, like cervical cancer which women start screening for around age 21. The American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging recommends that women should talk to their care team about mammograms starting at age 40.
All adults should discuss colon cancer screening and colonoscopies with their providers around age 45. Some cancers, like prostate, you should screen for as an individual decision after discussing risk with your doctor, but men usually start screening for prostate cancer at age 55.
Talk to your doctor about your risk for developing cancer and create a screening schedule so you can stay proactive in your health. Screening for cancers as part of your regular care routine can drastically improve your five-year survivability rate in the case of a cancer diagnosis.
Paying for routine cancer screenings
Most health plans are required through the Affordable Care Act to cover cancer screenings that the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommend for the general population, like mammograms and colorectal cancer screenings, at 100% with no out-of-pocket costs for patients. If your cancer screenings fall outside of average risk screenings or are done earlier than recommended, the screening may not be fully covered.
If your screening isn’t covered by insurance or you don’t have health insurance (or aren’t using it), Sky Lakes has a financial aid program that can fully cover or help cover the costs of your procedure. Additionally, for screenings like mammograms, we have a program that offers reduced costs for the procedure.
