Just curious as to whether or not anyone else had cancer maker tests
and if they found them clinically useful in monitoring treatment. I
had two
which were the CEA and the CA-15. Both were in "normal" ranges... but
perhaps the CA-15 was a high normal. Curious is other types of
breast cancers
were more inclined to have useful marker tests. I know that in
testicular cancer
HCG levels are looked at... Never really hear cancer markers discussed
in terms
of breast cancer.
fluffymonkey wrote:
> Just curious as to whether or not anyone else had cancer maker tests
> and if they found them clinically useful in monitoring treatment. I
> had two
> which were the CEA and the CA-15. Both were in "normal" ranges... but
> perhaps the CA-15 was a high normal. Curious is other types of
> breast cancers
> were more inclined to have useful marker tests. I know that in
> testicular cancer
> HCG levels are looked at... Never really hear cancer markers discussed
> in terms
> of breast cancer.
>
> Erika
>
They really aren't much use unless secondary cancer appears. Basically
patients who have had a primary tumour removed and are undergoing
adjuvant chemotherapy mostly don't actually have cancer, so a tumour
marker test will tell nothing, and certainly will not tell whether
chemotherapy is "working". That is like trying to tell whether your
seeds have germinated by weighing the flowerbed.
What the marker tests are good for is monitoring the rate of change of
tumour load in stage IV patients, and thus assessing the effectiveness
of particular treatments. They can also sometimes give an early
indication of the onset of metastasis in patients who do get a
recurrence. This is why the tests are given to early-stage patients:
they act as a baseline reading in event that metastasis does occur.
Even then the value is limited, and not all centres use the tests, as
the information provided (early detection of metastasis) only affects
clinical decisions in a minority of cases.
There are two cancer markers BRCA1 And BRCA2 , this will tell you if you
have a hereditary type of cancer which could put you at a high rate of
recurrence not only for breast cancer but ovarian cancers. Recently the test
has only been offered to a small group
There is another test performed Oncotype DXT Recurrence ScoreT , I see it
used frequently.
cancer markers 
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