Cancer Screening Eligibility Check

What organised screening is, and what it is not

Organised screening means a public programme invites everyone in an age group for a specific test at a set interval, tracks the results and follows up abnormal findings. It is different from a test your doctor orders because of symptoms, and from a private check-up. The EU recommends organised programmes for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer, and since 2022 also asks member states to explore lung, prostate and stomach cancer screening.

Screening finds cancers before they cause symptoms, when treatment is simpler and more often curative; it also finds precancerous changes, in the cervix and bowel, that can be removed before they become cancer. Every programme also has a cost: false alarms, extra tests and, occasionally, the treatment of a cancer that would never have caused harm. The age ranges and intervals in this checker are where each country has drawn that balance.

How the 2022 EU recommendation changed the picture

In December 2022 the Council of the European Union replaced its 2003 recommendation on cancer screening. The new text keeps breast, cervical and colorectal screening, widens the suggested breast age range towards 45 to 74, makes HPV testing the preferred cervical test, and asks member states to explore screening for lung cancer in heavy smokers, for prostate cancer with PSA and MRI, and for stomach cancer where it is common.

Member states implement at their own pace, which is why the same age can mean an invitation in one country and nothing in the next. The Commission reports on progress every few years; this checker shows the position each national programme had published on the date shown under each result.

If you have not been invited

• Check that the programme has your current address and, where relevant, your registration with a GP or insurer; invitations go to the registered address.
• People who have recently moved country are often missed for a full cycle. Contact the programme directly; most accept self-referral within the age range.
• If you are above the upper age, ask your GP. Several countries continue screening on request, and a fit person in their seventies can still benefit.
• If you are below the starting age but have a strong family history or a known gene change, you are outside population screening and should be in a high-risk pathway instead; the family history check on this site tells you whether you meet referral criteria.

What each test involves

• Mammography: an X-ray of each breast, a few minutes, sometimes uncomfortable; results by letter within weeks. About 3 to 5 women in 100 are called back for more images, and most of those have nothing wrong.
• HPV test or smear: a sample from the cervix taken by a nurse or doctor, or in some countries a self-sampling kit sent to your home. A positive HPV test means a follow-up smear or colposcopy, not a cancer diagnosis.
• Stool test (FIT): a kit posted to you; you collect one small sample at home and return it. A positive result leads to a colonoscopy, which finds cancer in a minority and removable polyps in many.
• Low-dose CT for lung cancer: a quick scan without contrast for people with a heavy smoking history; small nodules are common and are followed rather than treated.
• PSA with MRI: a blood test, and an MRI scan before any biopsy, which halves the number of unnecessary biopsies compared with older approaches.

Screening across borders

Screening programmes are national or regional and invite people insured or resident in that country. If you live in one member state and are insured in another, or move between them, you may fall between programmes; the European Health Insurance Card does not cover screening, and the directive on cross-border healthcare requires prior authorisation for planned care. The practical route is to register with the programme where you are insured and, if you are away for a long period, ask your GP for an equivalent test where you live.

Cancer Leagues and patient organisations in each country run helplines that know the local programme well; our partners in the European Cancer Leagues network can point you to the right one.

Questions to ask

Bring the result with you and ask:

• Am I registered with the screening programme, and is my address up to date?
• Given my family history or other risk factors, should I be screened earlier, more often or with a different test?
• I am above the programme age: can I continue, and would you recommend it?
• What happens after an abnormal result, and how quickly?
• Is there a lung or prostate screening pilot in my region that I qualify for?