This paper discusses the medical/radiology screenings available to detect cancer. The trend today is to order cancer screening tests, based on age or on risks factors, but a recent report made by the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center says that these tests may not be the best for seniors or elderly persons (American Medical Association). Age, according to the report, is one of the most important factors to consider in ordering such tests. A patient with other illnesses and has only a life expectancy of five years will not benefit from a breast cancer screen test, for example, because patients do not benefit from screening for at least five years (AMA). They can suffer unnecessarily from discovering early cancer and undergoing surgery or another invasive treatments.
