Screening tests recommended by the WHO

Each country implements its recommendations. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has set up two national screening programmes.
Breast cancer screening
In Luxembourg, breast cancer can affect about one in eight women at some point in their lives. This represents 450 cancers diagnosed each year. Only 15% of these diagnosed breast cancers are detected at an early stage. This early detection offers a chance of recovery close to 98%, which is why it is important to get tested often.
Women resident in Luxembourg aged 50 to 69 receive a letter at home every two years inviting them to go to an approved centre to have a mammogram.
To help diagnosed women and their families, one valuable source of information is the Facebook page of La Chauve Sourit, which also maintains the CHL blog on breast cancer.
It is also worth consulting the guide entitled WIN, created by the Luxembourg artist Jacques Schneider, which lists addresses and contacts useful for the prevention, screening and follow-up of breast cancer in Luxembourg.
This booklet is available from AXA headquarters and at Kritzel Fabrik, Jacques Schneider’s workshop in Luxembourg City.
A wealth of information is available on the website of the Fondation Cancer du Luxembourg which helped write this article.
Colorectal cancer screening
Women and men between 55 and 74 years of age are concerned by this programme. Again, if you are part of the target audience, a screening invitation will be sent to your home address.
Screening begins with a stool blood test. Then, if there is a risk factor or if the person so wishes, he or she can undergo a colonoscopy (also called coloscopy), i.e. a visual examination of the colon by means of a probe, performed under local anaesthesia.
In addition to these national programmes, other types of cancer must be monitored regularly, but this preventive approach is left to the discretion of the patient and his or her treating physician.
Cervical cancer screening
“The habit of consulting a gynaecologist every year is well established among women in Luxembourg. Therefore a smear test, performed every year or even every three years is enough. Because studies show that this type of cancer develops slowly. ” explains Lucienne Thommes, Director of the Fondation Cancer du Luxembourg.
Skin cancer screening
While it is recommended to visit your dermatologist every year for a check-up, the patient themselves are in the best position to screen for the disease. Patients are advised to observe any changes to the skin, to the size, colour or thickening of moles and to consult if in doubt.