ONCOSCREEN

Cancer mortality, psychosocial impact, and costs associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment can be reduced if the disease is diagnosed, treated, and cured in its early stages. Early detection is based on two major components: early diagnosis and screening. Early diagnosis of cancer can be achieved when it manifests early symptoms or is detected incidentally during medical investigations for other conditions. Screening, however, involves the active search for precancerous or cancerous lesions in different categories of people at risk, depending on age, sex, and the existence of personal and family risk factors for developing different types of cancer. The establishment of screening tests and investigations must take into account several factors that include sex, age, unhealthy habits such as smoking, personal history of malignant or potentially malignant conditions, as well as family history of these conditions. Also, establishing the appropriate investigations requires a detailed analysis of the recommendations of professional medical societies for each medical specialization for which oncological screening programs can be carried out and requires adapting these recommendations to the risk factors identified in each individual.

ONCOSCREEN is based on the physical prototype ONCOSPIN made in our laboratory and currently under patent. The ONCOSPIN tool allows for the rapid and individualized establishment of the screening investigations recommended by international professional societies by selecting gender, age group, personal and family risk factors, for all specialties in one place for which oncological screening programs are recommended. It supports health professionals, patient associations but also individuals from the general population in order to be able to accurately establish which oncological screening investigations are recommended by the medical professional societies for the category to which the person to whom the individualized tool is applied belongs.

The advantage of developing a digitalized version of the tool consists in its increased accessibility through the possibility of its installation on peripheral terminals such as computers/smart mobile phones. But the maximum potential of the digitalization of this tool and the transfer to the economic operator results from the possibility of adding it to the interface of the websites of both public and private health service providers, so that after completing the steps of the tool and establishing the indicated oncological screening investigations that correspond to the gender, age and risk factors of the user, he can be directed to the specialized services of the provider for scheduling the investigations. This will lead to increased addressability for screening investigation services with notable advantages for both the user and the health service provider whether it's a public or a private provider of healthcare services.