Blood tests used in cancer diagnosis

There are 2 types of blood tests for early cancer detection, one is to find signs of cancer cells by looking for proteins or other substances produced by cancer, the other is to check the general health of the patient. If not, the doctor may question cancer and do other tests to determine the exact cause.
Blood tests used to screen for cancer include:

The blood count test gives the indicators of the types of blood cells in the body. Through the blood indicators in this test, the doctor can identify blood cancer. From there, additional bone marrow biopsy is indicated to make a definite diagnosis.

Blood protein tests can help detect certain abnormal proteins in the immune system, which are sometimes elevated in people with multiple myeloma. For an accurate diagnosis, your doctor may order a bone marrow biopsy.
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Cancer marker tests look for chemicals produced by tumor cells. However, these chemicals can also be secreted by some normal cells, and levels are increased in some noncancerous health conditions. This limits the ability of this test to detect cancer. Only in extremely rare cases can a cancer marker test be considered sufficient for a definitive diagnosis of cancer. Some important tumor markers used to diagnose cancer include PSA-specific antigen for prostate cancer, cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) for ovarian cancer, calcitonin for ovarian cancer, and calcitonin for ovarian cancer. for medullary thyroid cancer, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for liver cancer and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) for germ cell tumors such as testicular cancer and ovarian cancer.

The blood cancer test is used to look for cancer cells that have left the original cancer site and are floating in the blood. This test has been approved by the FDA to monitor people with suspected breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer. However, it is rarely used by physicians clinically.

Some factors such as changes in the body or food can affect the test results. In addition, sometimes non-cancerous conditions can also produce abnormal test results, and conversely, cancer can appear despite normal blood test results.
The test results will be reviewed by the doctor to determine if the readings are within normal limits. The doctor can also compare the test results of previous times to draw conclusions.

Blood tests along with urine tests help give the first clues about cancer. However, they do not help confirm the diagnosis of the disease, which requires additional tests such as biopsies.
In some cases, cancer marker levels need to be monitored over time and you may be scheduled to have another checkup in a few months. However, this type of test is more useful to someone who has already been diagnosed with cancer because it can help doctors determine if a person is responding to treatment or whether the cancer is progressing.
In most cases, after cancer has been cured, the use of cancer screening blood tests is not useful to monitor the possibility of cancer recurrence.
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Reference source: mayoclinic.org