ABSTRACT
Cancer threatens, and takes, life by virtue of its progressive growth. The aim of all cancer therapy is to halt and, better, to reverse that growth. The search for better therapy involves both the development of therapies which are more effective in stopping or reversing growth and the application of such therapies as early as possible in the natural history of the disease, when the disease burden is minimal. In clinical practice, the stage of disease is the most critical factor in the assessment of any cancer patient, and the prognosis is thought of in terms of survival from diagnosis. These concepts of staging and survival emphasize the viewpoint of the physician, not of the patient. The term “screening” refers to the use of tests which have the potential of making a preliminary diagnosis of disease in individuals who are unconscious of any signs or symptoms of that disease.
