Background

Globally, cancer is one of the top causes of death in people below age 70. In the year 2020, approximately 19.3 million newly diagnosed cancer cases, and 10 million cancer-related deaths were reported (Ferlay et al., 2021). Breast, colorectal, liver, lung and prostate cancers have the highest incidence of cancers in Singapore, and over 50% of breast, colorectal, liver, lung and prostate cancers are detected in advanced stages, with poor uptake of current age-based cancer screening (Chua et al., 2021; Lau et al., 2020; Rajendram et al., 2022). Across the scientific and medical communities, there is a growing interest in adopting early cancer detection by screening to improve cancer treatment and control.

Early cancer detection enables the identification of cancers while they are still treatable, and often, asymptomatic. Yet, because of the proportion of the advanced-age population in Asia, screening by age and gender, irrespective of ethnicity, family history, lifestyle and genomic factors will add tremendous pressure on healthcare systems. Risk prediction models can aid in identifying at-risk individuals who are most likely to benefit from early cancer screening. This is an increasingly important strategy for countries with rapidly ageing populations such as Singapore.