How Cancer is Diagnosed

Malin Dollinger, MD, and Ernest H. Rosenbaum, MD 
Adaptedfor the Canadian edition by Richard Hasselback, MD 


Cancer can be treated. But if it is going to be treated 
with any degree of success, it has to be detected
 in its early stages and a diagnosis quickly 
made. This isn't always easy because 
of the silent period of tumor 
growth—the months or years 
when the malignant cells are
 quietly doubling again and 
again. There may be absolutely 
no indication that this process 
is going on.