Sunday, April 22, 2012

Tumor markers are a crap shoot

I had my first six month post-treatment checkup with my oncologist this past week. He's such a nice guy! Anyway, he tested my blood for "tumor markers," which is one way to detect if there are any active cancer cells in my body. The good news is that the test showed no cancer activity but these tests are often times inconclusive. It's possible to have active cancer and still have normal blood tests. I'm all too aware of this, because my tumor marker test was in the normal range at the time I was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. Isn't that comforting? So while I'm happy the blood tests were normal, I don't take a lot of stock in the results.

2 comments:

  1. well good thing to note no cancer cells! I am sure this process is scary for you. We need to chat soon so I can catch up with you and how you are doing.
    Life is very busy here but good overall. semester ends in 3 weeks! wooohooo!
    Hugs,
    Deb Gentry

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  2. Polly -
    Well another hurdle crossed!

    I always wonder if the stress of doing these tests are worth it. My oncologist does not do tumor marker testing for the same reason you identify.

    Take care,
    Sally

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