Research has consistently shown that early diagnosis results in faster treatment and higher survival rates. This is because cancer is often easier to treat in its initial stages, especially before it spreads to other body parts.
The American Cancer Society has found that the five-year survival rates for these common forms of cancer are much higher if the disease is diagnosed when it is localized to the part of the body where it started:
Colorectal cancer has five-year survival rate of 91 percent when it is diagnosed when it is localized in the colon; the survival rate drops to 13 percent when the cancer is found far from its original location; early detection is particularly vital for colon cancer as it becomes much deadlier when it spreads
Breast cancer has a five-year survival rate of 99 percent when it is localized and 31 percent when it has spread far from its starting place; this cancer is much more dangerous when it spreads
Prostate cancer has a five-year survival rate greater than 99 percent when it is diagnosed in its starting location and 34 percent when cancer cells have moved far from the original location
There is a 65 percent survival rate for non-small cell lung cancer when it is localized and just nine percent when the cancer has spread to a distant part of the body
Treatment is often much easier when the cancer is localized to one part of the body. In this situation, doctors may be able to do surgery to simply cut out the entire tumor. Chemotherapy and radiation can also be much more effective on early-stage cancers.