Announcement: Our clinic is now named Love & Joy Family Clinic, formerly Virtue Medical Clinic (Sunset Way), rest-assured that everything else remains the same.
Announcement: Our clinic is now named Love & Joy Family Clinic, formerly Virtue Medical Clinic (Sunset Way), rest-assured that everything else remains the same.
Cancer screening is a critical component of preventive healthcare, enabling the early detection of cancer when treatment is most effective. By identifying cancer at its earliest stages, screening not only improves survival rates but also reduces the physical, emotional, and financial toll of advanced disease.
Cancer screening involves a series of tests and evaluations designed to detect cancer before symptoms develop. Screening aims to identify abnormal cells or growths early, allowing for prompt medical intervention. It is not a diagnostic test but a preventive measure to catch potential issues early.
Screening can detect cancers like breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer early when they are easier to treat.
Studies show that regular screenings significantly lower the risk of dying from many common cancers.
Early-stage cancers often require less aggressive treatments and have higher recovery rates.
Screening can identify pre-cancerous conditions, enabling interventions to prevent the development of cancer.
Those with a family history of cancer may need to start screening earlier or undergo more frequent tests.
Smokers, those with a sedentary lifestyle, or those exposed to certain environmental risks may benefit from early and regular screenings.
Most cancer screenings are targeted at adults within specific age brackets, as outlined above.
We now offer LucenceINSIGHT Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) – an exciting paradigm shift in the fight against cancer!
It requires a single blood draw to screen for 12 or 50 cancer types with high accuracy. (80.9% sensitivity and 99% specificity).
The aim of MCED is to detect cancer in its earliest form so that it can be targeted and removed completely to achieve “cure”, which is the “holy grail” of cancer treatment.
Unfortunately, cost is currently the limiting factor for MCED testing. At Love & Joy Family Clinic, our policy is to offer the lowest possible price (near vendor cost price) so as to allow our patients to benefit from these latest tests. We hope in the near future that MCED testing cost will come down to a reasonable price that would allow periodic testing.
Early Detection Saves Lives. Get an INSIGHT into Your Health Today.
LucenceINSIGHT 5
Covers 5 cancer types:
Lung, Colorectal, Liver, Pancreas, Thyroid
$950 nett
LucenceINSIGHT Women’s 7
Covers 7 cancer types:
Lung, Colorectal, Liver, Pancreas, Thyroid, Breast & Ovarian
$1250 nett
LucenceINSIGHT 12
Covers 12 cancer types (highlighted in orange):
$1980 nett
LucenceINSIGHT 50
Covers 50 cancer types:
$3650 nett
Traditional tumour markers such as CEA, AFP, CA 19-9 have high false positive and false negative rates and therefore cannot be used reliably to diagnose or exclude cancers, but they can function as a follow-up after cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Absolutely not! Conventional tumour markers such as CA19–9, PSA, CEA require just a simple blood draw from the vein, however these tumour markers have high false-positive and false-negatives rates. In this day and age, we offer LUCENCE Insight Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) test, which similarly requires just a simple blood draw, but it screens for up to 50 different types of cancers with more than 80% sensitivity (false negative rate) and 99% specificity (false positive rate). If pain or needle phobia is a concern, speak to our doctor and we have painfree methods with the use of EMLA cream.
Recommendations for cancer screening vary for different kinds of cancers. For example, colorectal screening is recommended for those above 50 years of age, and consist of either a stool occult blood annually, or a colonoscopy every 10 years, or a CT colonoscopy every 5 years if indicated. For women, recommended breast cancer screening starts from age 40 years old with a mammogram annually from age 40 to 49 years old and every 2 years from age 50 to 69 years old. For liquid biopsy i.e. LUCENCE Multi-cancer Early Detection (MCED) tests can be performed at any age but they are generally recommended for older patients or those who have risk factors for cancer. There are no fixed intervals for the testing as it is dependent on each individual’s risk and medical conditions, but in general an annual test may suffice.
Cancer screening is an important component of health prevention as the aim is to detect cancer in the earliest stages where possible when there is an absence of symptoms. Certain cancers such as lung cancer, ovarian or liver cancer are often asymptomatic until late stages where curative surgery or definitive chemotherapy or radiation therapy will not be possible.
Fortunately in our day and age, we have in our arsenal against cancer the Multi-cancer Early Detection blood test, which detects up to 50 types of different cancers in a single blood draw with high accuracy. Once detected early in Stage 1 or even Stage 0 (also known as carcinoma-in-situ), the cancer can be completely removed surgically, oftentimes obviating the need for more drastic systemic treatments such as chemotherapy depending on the type of cancer.
In addition, do follow Health Promotion Board’s recommendations for age-appropriate cancer screening such as mammogram for females from 40 years of age and colorectal cancer screening for all above 50 years of age.
It’s important to review your test results with the doctor even if it’s normal as the doctor would advise on the false negative rates of the test and make recommendations on an appropriate interval for the next repeat test.
If the test results are abnormal, the doctor may recall you earlier to schedule a review so as to explain the results, perform physical examination, make a referral should further evaluation be required, or to perform further imaging or tests. Understandably, cancer is an alarming diagnosis and therefore there is often much anxiety and anticipation regarding cancer screening tests.
Most cancer screening tests are never 99% (there is no test with 100% accuracy) accurate and there is always a chance of a false-positive result, meaning that the cancer screening test result is positive even though there is actually no cancer. As such, it is highly important to review the result with your doctor.