4 Vital Blood Tests That Help You Diagnose Cancer

In case, you are suspected to have contracted cancer, your doctor may suggest certain blood tests. These tests will verify and confirm the inception of cancer. Besides, other specific lab tests help to steer the diagnosis in the right direction. These include a urine test or biopsy of the affected area.

Except for blood cancer, mere blood tests, by and large, cannot fully reaffirm a malignant or a non-malignant condition. Yet, they offer enough pointers to your doctor. This helps to comprehend the overall internal body functioning.

Your doctor may recommend some cancer blood tests. This is primarily to verify signs of cancer existence. But it does not imply that you have been diagnosed with cancer. Show effort in understanding what your doctor’s expectations are. Especially when your blood tests are done and reports are delivered.

What does your doctor try to put on alert?

Blood samples are collected and sent to the lab for analysis. The tests screen potential indicators of cancer. The blood specimen would usually display cancerous cells, proteins and other organisms. These are generally created due to malignancy. The blood tests also furnish information about the functioning of your vital organs. They also provide signals if any organ is affected by cancer.

4 important blood tests performed to gauge the presence of cancer include

1.    Complete blood count (CBC)

This is a widely prevalent form of a blood test. It measures the count of different types of blood cells. Blood cancer is suspected if the blood either has a hyper or hypo presence of a certain blood cell type. Even the occurrence of abnormal cells often hints at blood cancer. A biopsy of bone marrow can finally diagnose and confirm the formation of blood cancer.

2.    Blood protein testing

There is a special test called electrophoresis. It examines the strength of several proteins in your bloodstream. The test comes to your aid to unearth some abnormal immune system proteins. They are known as immunoglobulin’s. These proteins show aggravated count in patients who develop multiple myeloma. Here as well, your bone marrow biopsy confirms the suspected ailment.

3.    Tumor marker tests

These are chemicals produced by tumor cells. The secretions can be detected in the blood flow.

But tumor markers are often generated by normal body cells. The level of their presence may also be significantly high in non-malignant conditions. This is one limitation of tumor marker tests to identify potential cancer triggers. You should consider this test only under severely rare situations. Then, a clear-cut diagnosis of cancer can be made effective.

But, the best possible way to make use of tumor markers has not been established yet. Of course, the aim is to accurately diagnose cancer. Furthermore, some tumor marker tests are found to be controversial. Even their results prove to be inconclusive.

Common examples are tumor markers are:

o   prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to detect prostate cancer

o   cancer antigen 125 (CA 125)to detect ovarian cancer

o   calcitonin to detect medullary thyroid cancer

o   alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) to detectliver cancer

o   beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) to detect testicular/ovarian cancer

4.    Circulating tumor cell tests

This is a recently formulated blood test. It recognizes cells that have disengaged from the original cancer location. These cells break free and keep flowing in the bloodstream. Only one specific circulating tumor cell test has so far been approved. The approving authority, Food and Drug Administration, asserts its usefulness to track patients with breast, prostate or colorectal cancer.

What do the results signify?

You must interpret the test results carefully. It is imperative to know that various factors impact the outcomes. These include changes in your body and your food intake.

In addition, remember that noncancerous conditions can occasionally spark off abnormal test results. What's more, in other cases, malignant growth may have occurred despite the fact that the blood test results are normal.

Your doctor put your test results into a probe. The principal aim is to check if your levels lie in a normal range. Your doctor may also compare and analyze the current observation with your past test results.

The final course of action

These atypical tests are done at specialized blood test center in Paschim Vihar. They help doctors to gather some relevant clues for making the diagnosis easier. But for a definitive diagnosis, it is the biopsy that holds paramount importance.

Over time, the tumor marker levels are observed now and again. Your doctor may plan a follow-up in a couple of months. Tumor markers most often help once your diagnosis is perpetrated. Your doctor benefits immensely from these subsequent tests. They make you doctor informed if your treatment is favorably effective to your ailment.