Tumour markers are molecules which indicate the presence of cancer or provide information about the likely future behaviour of a cancer.
Commonly thought of as blood based, but can be from other substances (urine, faeces etc)
Uses:
- Screening in asymptomatic patients
- Providing prognostic information
- Measuring post-treatment response
- Detection of recurrence after treatment
Ideal tumour marker should:
- Have high positive and negative predictive values (good sensitivity and specificity)
- Be relatively inexpensive
- Standardised and simple assay with defined reference limits
- Be acceptable to patients and easily obtained
- Be validated as being clinically useful
Examples of urological tumour markers:
- PSA
- bHCG, AFP and LDH
- Urine cytology