Cancer Screening in Patients Undergoing Maintenance Dialysis: Who, What, and When
Cancer screening guidelines were developed for the general population with the aim of improving health outcomes through early detection. However, these screening recommendations are not generalizable to patients undergoing maintenance dialysis given that their life expectancy is often less than 5 years. In addition, the performance characteristics of screening tests in patients treated by dialysis may not be the same as in the general population, leading to differences in these tests’ sensitivity and specificity in detecting cancer.