ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION
A number of national and international conferences have been held during the past several years to discuss and evaluate screening for the early detection of cancer. The National Cancer Institute has conducted state-of-the-art conferences on screening for cancers of the breast, colon, lung, bladder and cervix. The International Union Against Cancer sponsored a meeting on cancer screening involving participants from several nations. This interest in screening programs is part of an increasing emphasis on prevention in cancer. Along with this increased emphasis there is an increased responsibility to thoroughly evaluate new prevention approaches before they are recommended for widescale application. This chapter will focus on the rigorous scientific evaluation of early detection programs for cancer. Many of the ideas apply to screening for other diseases as well.
