Onkológia 1/2025
The State of Oncolgical Screening Programs in Slovakia
The primary goal of population screening is to reduce mortality from selected oncological diseases by detecting cancer in its early stages within an asymptomatic target population, significantly improving prognosis. Recommendations for a given oncological screening program require the existence of medical evidence supporting the benefits of the approach, with a clearly defined target population, screening test, and implementation process. A crucial condition is achieving sufficient participation, ideally exceeding 75% of the target population, alongside effective screening organization, high-quality screening processes, monitoring, and evaluation to enable subsequent updates to screening programs. Based on the recommendations of the EU Council from December 9, 2022, on strengthening prevention through early detection and in alignment with the Improving cancer care coordination and screening in Slovakia (ICCCS) project recommendations in cooperation with International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Slovakia plans to enhance the management and organization of national screening programs. Updates will include the expansion of screening programs to include lung and prostate cancer.
Keywords: population screening, oncological screening program
