Blood test shows high cancer index, what to do?

Tumor markers are called tumor markers, which are markers of cancer that are not the gold standard for diagnosing cancer, they are just factors that help us think about cancer. And in fact, tumor marker index increases not only in cancer diseases but can also increase in some other benign diseases. Therefore, do not worry too much about this problem, but stay calm to get advice and diagnosis to make it more appropriate.

Tumor markers are metabolites produced by cancer cells and other cells that are specifically associated with the presence of cancer cells. These tumor markers are found in body fluids, in tissues or on the surface of tumors and are often obtained from blood when screening.

And these tests are helpful in assessing the response to cancer treatment. Monitoring cancer patients (TG-Thyroglobulin...) for follow-up examination.

If the patient is diagnosed with cancer, other clinical tests such as endoscopy, CT scan, MRI, PET/CT scan are needed. Even if the biopsy results are still questionable, cancer markers will help increase the positive diagnosis of cancer.

Early cancer screening is extremely important in detecting the disease early.

What does cancer screening include?

Depending on age, the health check-up package will have different items to check. Patients will be given specific advice, however, a cancer screening package usually includes the following items:

- Medical history and examination: Helps check your general health, and signs of illness, such as: spots, lesions or anything that doesn't look normal.

- Tests: Checking tissue samples, blood samples, urine samples or other substances in your body that suggest cancer. Specialized tests look for signs of cancer (common cancers: liver, lung, breast, thyroid, thyroid, prostate, nasopharynx, stomach, colorectal)

- Diagnostic imaging: These tools create images of the internal organs of your body, helping to examine structural and functional abnormalities of those organs, thereby suggesting the earliest possible images of tumors.

- Genetic testing: These are tests to find gene mutations associated with certain types of cancer (in-depth package - testing for the genetic potential of cancers).

- Professional advice

Tumor markers are not the gold standard for diagnosing cancer.

What to do?

When a patient has a blood test and the cancer marker index increases and while waiting for the doctor's exact results, the patient should stay calm and not worry too much.

Every day, you need to eat and exercise scientifically . Increase water intake (3 liters/day), eat cooked food and drink boiled water, limit stimulants (cigarettes, coffee, tea...) and fermented foods (pickled eggplant, pickled cucumber, fermented bean paste...). Do not smoke cigarettes or tobacco; do not use alcohol, stimulants...

Get enough sleep and keep your mind relaxed and happy, avoid worrying too much as it can affect your health. Pay attention to your body to see if there is anything unusual to help you focus on diagnosing the disease.

In the fight against cancer, the stage of detection is the decisive factor in the ability to treat the disease. Early detection means increasing the chance of successful treatment. For that reason, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the need to raise awareness in early diagnosis and screening.

Each screening test has its own benefits and potential risks, so it's important to talk to your doctor before having any cancer screening test.

The benefit of cancer screening is to detect precancerous lesions, or cancers in their earliest stages when they are asymptomatic, and these stages can be treated completely. However, there can also be certain disadvantages, such as the possibility of a false positive result, when the doctor observes images that resemble cancer but are not actually cancer. This result will lead to many tests, which are costly in terms of money and time, and also bring anxiety to the screener.

The next disadvantage is overdiagnosis, when doctors find things that are suspicious of developing into cancer. This leads to unnecessary treatment, known as overtreatment.

Therefore, to screen for cancer, we need to go to a reputable medical facility for examination and specific advice.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/xet-nghiem-mau-cho-chi-so-ung-thu-tang-cao-nen-lam-gi-172240228174043305.htm