Malignant growth screening tests expect to find disease before it causes side effects and when it could be simpler to treat effectively. A compelling screening test is one that.

• finds cancer early
• reduces the chance that someone who is screened regularly will die from the cancer
• has more potential benefits than harms (possible harms of screening tests include bleeding or other physical damage, false-positive or false-negative test results, and overdiagnosis—the diagnosis of cancers that would not have caused problems and did not need treatment)