Cancer diagnostics

Tumour markers: can they be used to diagnose cancer? A tumour marker is a substance found in blood, urine or body tissues that can be produced in excess by tumours compared to normal tissue. There are many different tumour markers, each indicative of a particular disease process, or several such processes. [More] PSA: a reliable tumour marker Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men. Prostate Specific Antigen or PSA is the relevant tumour marker and the exception that confirms the rule. Screening PSA in blood can reveal the presence or absence of prostate cancer. This protein has all the qualities we expect of a 'good' tumour marker and can be used for one of four purposes: to screen a healthy population or a high risk population for the presence of cancer; to make a diagnosis of cancer or a specific type of cancer; to determine the prognosis in a patient and to monitor the course in a patient in remission or while receiving surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. [More] CEA, the most well known tumour marker in the routine clinical laboratory In the lab CEA, or carcinoembryonic antigen, was one of the first tumour markers to be described and exploited clinically. It belongs to the group of tumour antigens, more specifically, the oncofoetal antigens. These substances, present in the embryo or foetus, diminish to low levels in adults but reappear in some tumours. [More]

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