If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with breast cancer, the vast majority of your energy will go toward forcing the disease into remission. However, a sizable percentage of your effort will consist of making heads or tails out of the new medical terminology with which you will have to become familiar if you are to converse with the attending physician to any reasonable extent. Breast cancer tumor markers is one of many new terms you will need to learn.
Breast Cancer
According to information from the medical website MedlinePlus, breast cancer tends to affect women who are older than 50. However, where the risk factors are present (and sometimes even when they are not) breast cancer can strike those who are much younger. Risk factors of which you should be aware include a family or personal history of cancer, genetics (presence of defects in the BRCA1 and 2 genes), and individuals who had their periods early (before 12) or entered menopause late (after 55).
Tumor Markers
According to the National Cancer Institute, tumor markers are nothing more than specific substances which are excreted by cancer cells into the body. These substances make their way into the urine, blood and other bodily fluids, providing doctors a type of shortcut toward determining the possibility of cancer in a patient.
Primary Breast Cancer Marker
According to the American Cancer Society, the most commonly used tumor marker in the case of breast cancer is called CA 15-3. Elevated blood levels of this compound normally signal the possibility that cancer is present, as around 10 percent of individuals with early-stage disease and 70 percent of women with late-stage breast cancer demonstrate this symptom.
Breast Cancer Tumor Marker Levels
The normal blood level for CA 15-3 is less than 30 U/mL. However, this is patient specific, as occasionally women without breast cancer can exhibit levels of CA 15-3 that are greater than 100 U/mL. This illustrates why tumor markers are not used to provide a primary diagnosis, but are merely one indicator for whether further testing is deemed necessary.
Other Breast Cancer Markers
Another less commonly used marker for breast cancer is CA 27.29. This test is not any better or worse at detecting early or late stage breast cancer, but it may be more beneficial in avoiding false positives. Again, tests for CA 27.29 are searching for elevated amounts of the compound, with levels at or below 40 U/mL being considered normal.
Tags: breast cancer, breast cancer, Breast Cancer Tumor, Cancer Tumor, commonly used, than However
