cancer screenings

Initial screenings for breast, lung and cervical cancer are covered by insurance, but expensive secondary tests can leave patients in screening purgatory.

People in lower-income communities are more likely to die of colon cancer, often because they don't get diagnosed early enough. Those premature deaths take a financial toll, too.

Genetic profiling of cancer cells can help guide treatment, but such profiles can be ambiguous. Results would be more accurate if all labs tested normal cells from each patient, too.

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.

An HPV test could replace the Pap smear for many women, two groups of physicians say. But other doctors, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, still urge dual testing.

Interview HighlightsLewis: A prominent breast cancer researcher recently called for a major expansion in genetic screening for breast and ovarian cancer.…

http://media.soundmedicine.org/segments/060114_5.mp3In April, the FDA approved the use of a new human papillomavirus test for primary cervical cancer…