cancer screening

An online tool asks the right questions to put a woman's breast cancer risk in perspective. It also addresses the emotions that surround cancer screening.

The American Cancer Society says new research supports changing the age at which most women should start getting yearly mammograms. But the group's latest advice still conflicts with other guidance.

Mammograms often find spots that turn out to be nothing serious. But cancer worries can start with the phone call about a follow-up test. Letting women know how common callbacks are could help.

While the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says most women should get screening mammograms every two years, an NPR-Truven Health Analytics poll finds women think they should go every year.

Since 1970, the national colorectal cancer death rate has been cut in half. But progress has lagged in the Lower Mississippi Delta, Appalachia and counties in eastern Virginia and North Carolina.

A comparison of women in 547 U.S. counties found that getting more women in for screening mammograms didn't lower death rates from breast cancer. More small cancers were found.

Women with dense breasts are more likely to get cancer and less likely to catch it early on a mammogram. But degree of density matters too, a study finds, as do other factors like family history.

Most people are anesthetized during colonoscopy. Federal law mandates that the cancer test itself must be fully covered by insurers, but quite a few of them didn't pay for anesthesia.

Many Americans aren't getting recommended screening tests for colorectal, breast and cervical cancer. Despite a public health push, there has been a lack of progress in reaching screening goals.

The Pap smear has dramatically decreased rates of cervical cancer, but testing too often has a downside, too. Many women say they aren't yet ready to follow new guidelines and skip the annual tests.

Medicare now pays for some long-term smokers to get an annual test. These scans could save thousands of lives each year, but some doctors still worry risks outweigh benefits.

Nearly half the states in the U.S. require that women be notified if mammograms detect that they have dense breasts. Critics say the information raises anxiety more than it improves care.