The Future of Cancer Screening: Public Health Approaches

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death among Americans and takes a toll on communities across the United States. One of the effective ways to reduce our nation’s burden from cancer is to ensure that high quality screening services are available and accessible to all Americans. Screening for cervical, colorectal, and breast cancers is supported by sound scientific evidence, and helps find these diseases early when they are easiest to treat.

This session of Grand Rounds explored new ways that public health can increase the rate of evidence-based cancer screening, and decrease disparities in screening rates. Viewers learned about the effectiveness of screening, successful organized cancer screening programs in the United States and abroad, and opportunities with the Affordable Care Act. The session concluded with future directions for CDC and the nation’s public health system to improve cancer screening.