Tumor Markers

Tumor Markers

A host of blood tests can assess the health of different organs and systems in your body. Some doctors order or "tumor markers" (or "cancer markers") to detect possible cancer activity in the body. If cancer is present, it will usually produce a specific protein in the blood, that can serve as a "marker" for the cancer. Biochemical method such as Biomarkers C12 measures tumor markers and predicts the development of tumors based on marker concentration.

For example, CA 15.3 is the name of a protein used to find breast and ovarian cancers. CA125 may signal ovarian and breast cancer recurrence. CA 27.29 are other examples of proteins associated with breast cancer, which your doctor may test for. CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) is a marker for the presence of colon, lung, and liver cancers. This marker may be used to determine if cancer has spread to other areas of the body.

Some doctors rely on markers as an early indicator of disease progression or recurrence, with the hope of finding a local, curable tumor. If you have an elevated marker, your doctor may check that marker periodically to assess response to chemotherapy.

Now we know that biochemically no single tumor marker is sensitive or specific enough for tumor detection. Combined measurement of multiple tumor markers is being adopted for more accurate detection of tumors in recent years and Biomarkers C12 is a perfect solution – to detect 12 tumor markers simultaneously – which means more economical and accurate. Previously testing all 12 tumor markers would be prohibitively expensive.