Early Detection of Cancer
Open accessAbstract
Survival improves when cancer is detected early. However, ~50% of cancers are at an advanced stage when diagnosed. Early detection of cancer or precancerous change allows early intervention to try to slow or prevent cancer development and lethality. To achieve early detection of all cancers, numerous challenges must be overcome. It is vital to better understand who is at greatest risk of developing cancer. We also need to elucidate the biology and trajectory of precancer and early cancer to identify consequential disease that requires intervention. Insights must be translated into sensitive and specific early detection technologies and be appropriately evaluated to support practical clinical implementation. Interdisciplinary collaboration is key; advances in technology and biological understanding highlight that it is time to accelerate early detection research and transform cancer survival.
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Without definitive tests, healthcare providers often depend on clinical judgment and broader testing approaches, sometimes resulting in diagnostic errors.
“Without definitive tests, healthcare providers often depend on clinical judgment and broader testing approaches, sometimes resulting in diagnostic errors.”
From Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors (2026) · cites this paper as [185]
There is a lack of appropriate or specific diagnostic tests for certain conditions or diseases, especially in their early stages.
“First, there is a lack of appropriate or specific diagnostic tests for certain conditions or diseases, especially in their early stages [185,186,187].”
From Toward Safer Diagnoses: A SEIPS-Based Narrative Review of Diagnostic Errors (2026) · cites this paper as [185]
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The STARD-AI reporting guideline for diagnostic accuracy studies using artificial intelligence
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- Authors
- Crosby, D., Bhatia, S., Brindle, K. M., Coussens, L. M., Dive, C., Emberton, M., Esener, S., Fitzgerald, R. C., Gambhir, S. S., Kuhn, P., Rebbeck, T. R., & Balasubramanian, S.
- Affiliations
- Cancer Research UK (GB)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- University College London (GB)
- Stanford University (US)
- USC Michelson Center Convergent Science Institute in Cancer, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Crosby, David
- Balasubramanian, Shankar
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2022-03-18
- Volume
- 375
- Issue
- 6586
- Pages
- eaay9040-eaay9040
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W4220903131
- Cited by
- 1,379
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 310 · 2025: 478 · 2024: 351 · 2023: 196 · 2022: 44
- FWCI
- 32.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion)
- Apollo
- Funders
- Cancer Research UK (CB4330, 28289)
- National Cancer Institute (P30CA069533)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Global Cancer Incidence and Screening
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
- Keywords
- early cancer detection, precancerous lesions, early-stage cancer, cancer risk, cancer screening, cancer survival, clinical implementation, interdisciplinary collaboration
- MeSH terms
- Disease Susceptibility, Female, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Sensitivity and Specificity, Biomarkers, Tumor, Risk Assessment, Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures, Early Detection of Cancer, Carcinogenesis
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