Tumor Markers?
 

Hi All,

I should probably know this by now but for some reason I have never thought to ask my doc. What exactly are tumor markers? How are they used? Are they accurate?

Sorry if this has already been discussed on a previous post. I wasn't able to find anything.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Re: Tumor Markers?
 

Hi,

If you put in 'Tumor Marker' in the 'Search' box, you will find many threads on the subject. Below is one of the replies to one of the threads where Aussie Girl, who is a medical doctor, shared her opinion on follow-up cares after breast cancer:

"I was talking about follow up of treated early breast cancer with my oncologist recently.
Apparently the CBC, liver function tests and usual tumor markers are all completely unreliable for detecting metastases. For example you can get liver mets and still have normal liver function tests.
I had heard that new blood tests were being developed that could accurately determine cancer recurrence, but I thought thought they hadn't reached the market yet. I look forward to the day when they are generally available and integrated into standard treatment protocols.

Aussie Girl"

Re: Tumor Markers?
 

In my country tumor markers (blood tests) are only used to monitor Stage IV disease's response to treatment. This means that once you have mets, your tumor markers are determined. If they go down during treatment, that's an indication that the treatment is probably working. They tested my tumor markers prior to surgery, but they were well within normal range. So they would not have been useful for me anyway. But then, I wasn't Stage IV, so there.