What does abnormal tumor marker mean? Don’t panic!

Audit expert: Zhang Jianwei

Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Oncology, Seventh Medical Center, PLA General Hospital

Recently, according to news reports, Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the American company Theranos, was sentenced to 135 months in prison by the court for fraud.

Elizabeth Holmes Source: News Photo

Theranos once claimed that it could perform "blood testing for cancer". By collecting a drop of blood from the fingertips, a small device could be used to determine whether the user had serious diseases such as cancer or diabetes.

Source: Baidu Pictures

With the imprisonment of the founder of Theranos, we now know that the so-called "blood test for cancer" is nothing but a scam. However, when people do physical examinations and cancer screenings, they often see a test called tumor marker test . Many people will be scared if the test value is high or the result is positive, thinking that it is a confirmed tumor.

So, is this really the case?

What are tumor markers?

Tumor markers are mainly proteins, polyamines, hormones, enzymes, and oncogene products . They are produced in two ways: one is the substances synthesized and released by tumor cells themselves during tumor occurrence and proliferation; the other is the substances produced by the human body in response to tumor stimulation.

Source: hippopx

Tumor markers can reflect the nature of tumors and help doctors diagnose and classify tumors. They do not exist or are present in very small amounts in healthy people, but their values ​​in cancer patients are significantly higher than those in normal people.

Source: Sina News

Unveiling the “mask” of tumor markers

At present, tumor marker detection is an important way to detect tumors at an early stage . In clinical practice, this test usually requires the collection of blood samples, and sometimes body fluids (such as urine, pleural effusion, etc.) and tissue cells are also tested. For example, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) can be detected in the blood of patients with primary liver cancer; human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) can assist in the diagnosis of malignant trophoblastic tumors; high levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) can be detected in patients with colorectal cancer...

Common tumor markers are summarized in the following table:

Although tumor marker testing has been widely used in clinical practice, its specificity and accuracy are not 100%, for example:

1. A positive tumor marker test result is not necessarily a tumor , but only a hint and signal, which needs to be observed and judged based on the patient's various conditions. In addition, when a tumor marker reaction is positive, it may also be caused by certain benign diseases, certain normal physiological changes (such as menstruation), and autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus and glomerulonephritis.

2. A negative tumor marker test result does not necessarily rule out a tumor . A false negative test result may be due to a small number of cells producing tumor markers or poor blood circulation in the tumor tissue itself. At this time, the tumor marker cannot be secreted into the peripheral blood and therefore cannot be detected.

Source: hippopx

Tumor markers are mainly used for tumor screening in high-risk groups (such as employees of seriously polluting factories and mines, people who have long-term exposure to carcinogens, people living in high-incidence areas of cancer or people with a family history of cancer) and people over 40 years old, especially those who have "cancer signals" in their bodies (such as coughing, blood in stool, breast lumps, weight loss, etc.). In addition, tumor markers can also be used to monitor the condition of tumor patients.

Therefore, don’t worry too much when our test indicators are high. You should communicate with the attending physician in time and follow his advice.

Common cancer screening tests

Cancer screening is a more targeted physical examination method. Let’s take a closer look at it.

Source: hippopx

1. Lung cancer screening: It is recommended to use low-dose spiral CT to screen lung cancer. Combined with several biomarkers, the detection rate can reach more than 90%.

2. Breast cancer screening: using mammography and ultrasound examination.

3. Cervical cancer screening: TCT examination. When it comes to cervical cancer, everyone will think of HPV testing. In fact, the combination of the two is the most effective.

4. Liver cancer screening: alpha-fetoprotein test and B-ultrasound.

Source: unsplash

In order to have a healthier body, we should adjust our lifestyle and have regular physical examinations, especially don't forget cancer screening. But if the tumor markers are found to be elevated during the screening, don't panic, because many benign diseases, detection errors, etc. can also cause tumor markers to increase. At this time, you need to consult a specialist, who will guide you to have regular checkups or do other tests to rule out tumors.