Tumor, oncological markers, or simply tumor markers - what is it, unfortunately, at the moment many people all over the world already know. And, nevertheless, the disease itself and the procedures for its diagnosis and treatment are shrouded in myths born of fear and ignorance. Cancer is too large and serious a problem to be overlooked. It is necessary that the level of education of people in this matter increases.
The need for oncology diagnostic procedures
Speaking about any oncological disease, it should be noted that most patients, due to fear and ignorance in this matter, often lose time and go to clinics in the last stages. While the constant control of your body for the presence of tumors in it is simply necessary for every person at the present time. There are many reasons for this: ecology, nutrition, lifestyle, stress, various diseases that can provoke the formation and growth of a tumor.
In any encounter with cancer clinics, the term "tumor markers" appears. What is it, for the layman is still not entirely clear. Many believe that the mere presence of them in the body already makes a terrible diagnosis. While tumor markers are not a diagnostic tool, and even more so - its result. Tumor markers, the decoding of which is exclusively informative in nature, are nevertheless recommended for analysis by many oncologists.
The specificity of tumor markers
If you give an approximation of the scientific definition of this phenomenon, these are protein-carbohydrate or lipid macromolecules, the presence and quantity of which often indicates the formation of a malignant tumor or the onset of relapse in a patient in remission.
It should be understood that the concept of tumor markers includes molecules with different characteristics. What unites them is that all cancer diagnostic methods take into account the ability of tumor markers to correlate with a tumor.
It is important that the indicators of tumor markers never indicate the exact location of the tumor, they provide information about the possible presence of malignant tumors in the body. However, the method cannot give a full guarantee to patients with normal indicators that the tumor is absent in the body. All patients should understand the importance of diagnosing cancer in the early stages, but not panic when they get the results. Specialists of each clinic will talk about such a method as tumor markers, what it is and what benefits such information can provide.
Despite the need for such testing,
tumor markers do not give qualitative results in patients with a disease without symptoms. We must be able to hear a doctor-diagnostician talking about the need for testing for tumor markers, that this is a real need to get a picture in patients with pronounced symptoms. Here, the correct interpretation of the indicators of oncological markers (AFP, hCG, PSA) can simply save the patient's life. Also, the informational content of tumor markers is important for analyzing the effectiveness of various treatment protocols.
Summarizing all of the above, it is necessary to conclude that testing for the presence of cancer markers gives the best results (provided that the decryption is correct) in some cases.
- When it is necessary to identify the degree of successful removal of the entire tumor or the presence of multiple tumors, the markers are almost zero in both cases.
- Monitoring the effectiveness of therapy and the course of the disease.
- Obtaining information about the possible presence of cancer.
In order to cope with this disease, you need to know as much as possible about it, not to shy away from diagnostic tests. It’s absolutely not a shame to find out from doctors all about testing for tumor markers, what it is and how much they need to be done in this particular case. The most important point that every person should remember: the earlier a tumor is detected, the more guarantees that it will be cured.