Korean Cancer Association Develops 'Decision Aid Tool' to Support Lung and Prostate Cancer Screening

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The Korean Cancer Association announced on the 23rd that it has developed a web-based 'Decision aid' tool to help the general public determine whether to undergo lung cancer and prostate cancer screenings.

Cancer screening is generally conducted to detect and treat cancer early by undergoing cancer tests when there are no physical abnormalities or symptoms and one considers oneself healthy. Early detection and treatment of cancer through screening can significantly increase the cure rate.

However, early cancer screening does not always show only positive effects. It may detect cancers that would not progress if left alone, lead to unnecessary medical use and costs due to additional tests from abnormal findings during screening, reduce quality of life due to anxiety, or cause side effects and complications from successive medical interventions.

The decision aid tool originated from a movement to ensure that those being screened make decisions after fully understanding the information and consulting with their doctors. Developed for patients and medical staff to jointly consider medical issues related to patient diseases, it helps the general public make cancer screening decisions based on individual risk and sufficient information. While it has been applied and used in clinical settings in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom since the early 2000s, awareness in Korea is still low.

Accordingly, the Korean Cancer Association recently developed a decision aid tool for lung cancer and prostate cancer screening with support from the Cancer Research Foundation. It presents individualized lung and prostate cancer risk by considering personal risk factors such as height, weight, smoking status, hypertension, and diabetes. Users can check their relative risk of lung and prostate cancer by comparing their risk with the average risk for the same age and gender group and the average risk when no risk factors are present.