Screening for cancer

To avoid the risk of suffering from cancer, people must undergo certain tests regularly. Three are enough for people in good health, according to a 1999 European Union report. The two tests for women are a cervical smear - for women who are 30 years and older, but certainly not for those under 20 – and a mammography, designed to detect breast cancer in women between the ages of 50 and 69. Both men and women in the 50-69 age group need to be tested for rectal cancer. The test involves looking for traces of blood in stools. The usefulness of these three types of tests has been amply demonstrated, but the other tests in use are not conclusive in the case of healthy people, according to European cancer specialists.