A tumour marker blood test is commonly used to look for tumour markers, which are sometimes called cancer markers. Tumour markers are substances that are made by cancer cells or by normal cells in response to cancer. For instance, some cancer cells make certain proteins in large amounts that normal cells do. These proteins can serve as tumour markers since their presence may mean cancer cells are present.
Certain tumour markers may be found in samples of body fluids, such as blood or urine, while others are found in samples of cells that are removed from a tumour during a biopsy. It is worth mentioning that not all cancers have known tumour markers, and the tumour markers that are known don’t always offer accurate information.
You may wonder why. Well, some conditions that aren’t cancer may also cause high levels of certain tumour markers. Tumour marker tests can’t tell whether tumour markers come from cancer or from another condition. Then, some people also don’t make high levels of the tumour markers that are commonly found in their type of cancer, making it difficult to find accurate information.
You might wonder why and what a tumour marker blood test is used for. To help allay some of the thoughts in your mind, tumour marker tests are often used after you have a cancer diagnosis. When used with other tests, tumour markers may help find out whether cancer has spread to other parts of your body and predict how fast your cancer may grow, the chance of recovery, and whether cancer is likely to return.
In addition to this, a tumour marker blood test may be used to help choose the right treatment for your type of cancer. Some treatments work only with cancers that have certain tumour markers. Tumour markers that help plan treatment are also called biomarkers. Things are not any different when your medical practitioner wants to find any cancer that remains or comes back after treatment.
You should remember that some tumour marker tests that use body fluids, mainly blood or urine, have a limited role in screening for certain types of cancer. These tests are most commonly used to screen people who have a high risk for the type of cancer that’s linked to the tumour marker being measured.
This could mean a family history of that type of cancer or that you have certain environmental or behavioral risk factors. Things are not different for anyone who has symptoms that could be from that type of cancer.
