28/09/2020
๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐งโ
So after a long delay (sorry for the IG silence) here it is! And where better to start than a question Iโve been asked many times
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฐ๐๐ซ: ๐๐จ. There isnโt a single blood test that can absolutely diagnose if you have cancer โ however blood tests can be very useful in giving us clues to lead us to further investigations:
๐ฉธ ๐๐ช๐ก๐ก ๐ฝ๐ก๐ค๐ค๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ
โข Measures levels of components in your blood including red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets
โข Can help to indicate certain haematological cancers e.g. raised white cells/lymphocytes in leukaemia
๐ฉธ ๐๐๐ง๐ช๐ข ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐จ๐๐จ
โข Measures specific proteins in the blood which can be raised to indicate potential diagnosis of multiple myeloma (a type of bone marrow cancer)
๐ฉธ ๐๐ช๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ข๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐จ
โข Chemicals (usually proteins) produced by some cancers that can be measured in the blood. Can be tissue or circulating
โข When raised they can alert us to do further tests, and can be used to monitor recurrence of known cancers
โข Importantly, these can also be raised in other non-cancerous conditions and therefore aren't always reliable
Some examples include:
๐๐ฃ๐ฆ๐
-can be raised in prostate cancer
-can also be raised in BPH โ Benign enlargement of the prostate
-NB PSA can be normal but still prostate cancer (ie false negative)
๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฑ
-Raised in ovarian cancer
-Also can be raised in endometriosis, fibroids and even pregnancy
-As above be aware of false negatives
๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ/ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฎ
-these are tumour supressor genes (they stop cells growing too rapidly)
-changes or mutations in these genes mean and cells can grow out of control, which can lead to cancer
โ ๏ธ Blood tests alone are not enough to diagnose cancer, but they can be helpful combined with other investigations
๐
๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐