What are tumor markers?

zach08
zach08 Member Posts: 9
in Breast Cancer #1
Do docs do tumor markers with stage 2 cancer?

Comments

  • RE
    RE Member Posts: 4,591 Member
    #2
    TUMOR MARKERS/CANCER MARKERS
    CA 15-3 antigen levels are most commonly elevated in breast cancer, ovarian, lung, colorectal, and pancreatic. The "safe" margin is anything below 31.3.

    CEA looks for elevated protein levels and is for the same cancers as listed above. The "safe" margins are anything between 0.1 - 4.9.

    CA 125 is the marker ran to look for elevated levels that may indicate ovarian cancer.

    Some doctors do these tests as a precaution while others do not. My onco does them and I ask every 6 months to have them ran. I figure if they are elevated I want to know so that other tests can be done just to be sure all is well. Hope this helps.

    Hugs,

    RE
  • CypressCynthia
    CypressCynthia Member Posts: 4,014 Member
    #3
    Hope this helps
    Some do, some don't.

    "Tumor markers are substances that can be found in the body when cancer is present. They are most often found in the blood or urine, but they can also be found in tumors and other tissue. They can be products of the cancer cells themselves, or made by the body in response to cancer or other conditions. Most tumor markers are proteins."
    What are Tumor Markers?

    "No tumor marker has been found to be useful for screening or diagnosing early stage breast cancer.

    At the time of diagnosis, breast cancer tissue should be tested for estrogen and progesterone receptors, as well as the HER2/neu antigen. These markers give information on how likely the cancer is to grow fast and spread and how likely it is to respond to certain treatments.

    The markers most often used to follow patients with advanced cancer or to look for the return of the cancer after treatment (recurrence) are CA 15-3 and CEA. The CA 27.29 test is also used by some doctors. The CA 15-3 and CA 27.29 are probably equally sensitive, while the CEA is less sensitive.

    These markers are most useful in measuring the results of treatment for patients with advanced disease. In most cases, blood levels go down if the cancer responds to treatment and rise if the cancer progresses.

    Some doctors use these tests to look for signs of recurrence in women who have no symptoms of cancer after their first treatment. But most professional groups do not recommend using these markers to follow women already treated for early stage disease."

    Breast Cancer Tumor Markers
  • DebbyM
    DebbyM Member Posts: 3,289 Member
    #4
    RE said:

    TUMOR MARKERS/CANCER MARKERS
    CA 15-3 antigen levels are most commonly elevated in breast cancer, ovarian, lung, colorectal, and pancreatic. The "safe" margin is anything below 31.3.

    CEA looks for elevated protein levels and is for the same cancers as listed above. The "safe" margins are anything between 0.1 - 4.9.

    CA 125 is the marker ran to look for elevated levels that may indicate ovarian cancer.

    Some doctors do these tests as a precaution while others do not. My onco does them and I ask every 6 months to have them ran. I figure if they are elevated I want to know so that other tests can be done just to be sure all is well. Hope this helps.

    Hugs,

    RE

    My oncologist doesn't do
    My oncologist doesn't do tumor markers as he feels they are unreliable and can unnecessarily scare you for nothing. But, I know that some do the test. I don't know if it is good or not.

    Debby

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