Blood test for cancer. Is it possible to determine the cancer by the blood test?

As a method of diagnosing various diseases, a blood test is often used. In cancer, this study is also effective. The analysis makes it possible to determine the number of leukocytes and red blood cells in the blood, the rate of their subsidence, the leukocyte formula, the level of hemoglobin. All these indicators help to identify diseases at an early stage.

Oncomarkers

These are special proteins secreted by cancer cells. The tumor produces substances that differ in properties from normal substances in the human body. They manage to suspect the disease. The answer to the question as to whether the blood test shows a cancer will be yes. At the present time markers of many varieties of oncological diseases have already been described . These include cancer of the breast, lung, pancreas, intestines, stomach, thyroid and others. Nevertheless, such studies are not carried out very often. Why? Now tell.

Blood test for cancer

Research on oncomarkers is distinguished by high cost, but at the same time inaccuracy of the results. So, the analysis can show the presence of a tumor (which in fact is not present) in the case of an inflammatory disease. For example, the marker of ovarian cancer intensively reacts to hepatitis, heart failure, liver cirrhosis and other pathologies leading to accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. In the presence of diseases such as pancreatitis, gastric ulcer, cancer markers are raised, designed to diagnose cancer of the gastrointestinal tract.

However, there are also such situations when it is possible to determine the cancer by blood analysis with an absolute guarantee. For example, in the case when the specific prostatic antigen index has a level of more than 30, one can say with accuracy about the presence of prostate cancer. If the value of the marker is increased, but not so, categorically state that a person has oncology, it is impossible. Such indicators may be evidence of adenoma or prostatitis. To confirm the assumptions, an additional examination should be carried out.

In today's reality, oncomarkers are used to a greater extent not to determine the primary tumor, but to detect recurrences of cancer that has already been treated. Often such a study makes it possible to learn about the danger of re-development of the tumor even before its actual appearance and at the expense of this, take the necessary measures in advance. Every year the number of oncomarkers increases, which, of course, is good news.

Blood sampling

The procedure should be performed on an empty stomach (not earlier than eight hours after the last meal) in the morning. Blood sampling is performed from the vein in a sitting or lying position. Patients who have undergone a full course of treatment for oncological disease should do a blood test every 3-4 months. When cancer is effective, not only diagnostics for cancer markers, other types of research should be carried out. Let's talk about them in more detail.

A common blood test will show cancer?

It is extremely difficult to give an unambiguous answer. Everything depends on the location of the tumor, the nature of the disease, and also the individual characteristics of the organism. And yet, by some distinctive characteristics of peripheral blood, an attentive physician may suspect malignant formation.

What do you need to pay attention to? First of all, the quantitative content and quality of leukocytes. The blood test for cancer usually shows a significant increase in leukocytes, especially due to young forms. For example, with leukemia, leukocytosis can have off-peak rates. Also an experienced specialist in the case of leukemia when examined under a microscope smear will probably notice myeloblasts or lymphoblasts.

With cancer, a blood test almost always shows an increase in the rate of erythrocyte sedimentation and a decrease in hemoglobin. If a history of the patient does not have cases of blood loss, while he leads a normal life and eats well, such research results should alert the doctor. Hemoglobin decreases most intensively in the presence of malignant lesions in the stomach or intestine. In some forms of leukemia, liver cancer, among other things, there will be a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood, a deterioration in the coagulability.

It is worth noting that it is impossible to diagnose cancer solely by a general blood test . There are diseases that, when tested, are very similar to oncology, but the tumor is absent in the body.

Biochemical study

Not only a general, but also a biochemical blood test can indicate cancer. Thus, in the case of a pancreatic tumor, the blood glucose level changes , in the case of cancer of the bile ducts, bilirubin increases due to clogging of the bile ducts, malignant formation in the liver is evidenced by an increase in the activity of aminotransferases, and so on.

Oncological diseases are very diverse and numerous, their diagnosis is not always simple. Often, one analysis can not determine the disease, procedures should be carried out in a complex. Make an appointment with an oncologist if you suspect a tumor process. The specialist will tell you what research and in what order should be taken to establish an accurate diagnosis.