Photo: Tim Douglas

Can blood work detect all cancers?

Aside from leukemia, a broad term for cancers of the blood cells, most cancers cannot be detected during routine blood work. However, blood tests can provide helpful information about: Overall health. Organ function.

nebraskamed.com - Can blood tests help detect cancer? | Nebraska Medicine Omaha, NE

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Blood tests can provide clues to help your health care team identify and treat your cancer, but they shouldn't be used on their own. Typically, other tests are necessary. Below, we explain how blood tests can be used in conjunction with other cancer screenings as well as the type of tests that are best suited to help diagnose and manage cancer.

The role of blood tests in cancer diagnosis and treatment

Aside from leukemia, a broad term for cancers of the blood cells, most cancers cannot be detected during routine blood work. However, blood tests can provide helpful information about:

Overall health

Organ function

Chemicals and proteins in your blood that might indicate cancer

Levels of blood cells that are too high or too low, perhaps because of cancer

Whether treatment is effective or if the disease is progressing

Whether cancer has come back

All blood tests can be done in a doctor's office, clinic or hospital setting, and are typically performed by nurses or technicians. However, they can be administered by a variety of health care providers.

The most effective tests for detecting cancer

Although blood tests are useful, other tests are almost always necessary for diagnosing cancer. These include: Many health care providers encourage women to get a baseline mammogram at age 40 and every year thereafter. Women who have a family history of breast cancer should discuss their risk factors with their health care providers and consider screenings at an earlier age. Similarly for lung cancer, the most common cancer in the world, any individual with a significant smoking history should get a CT scan between 50 and 80 years old. During a CT scan, you lie on a table and an X-ray machine uses a low dose of radiation to make detailed images of your lungs.

The importance of early cancer detection

Regardless of your type of cancer, early detection is key to ensuring optimal outcomes. "Early detection of cancer is important because cancer is typically divided into various stages depending on what part of the body it's involving," says Nebraska Medicine cancer doctor, Apar Kishor Ganti, MD, MS. "So, if we can detect the cancer at an earlier stage when a patient doesn't have as many symptoms, there is a better chance their cancer can be cured."

Worried about cancer?

Call 402.559.5600 to book an appointment with a cancer specialist.

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What causes a high PSA?

For example, the PSA level tends to increase with age, prostate gland size, and inflammation or infection. A recent prostate biopsy will also increase the PSA level, as can ejaculation or vigorous exercise (such as cycling) in the 2 days before testing.

cancer.gov - Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Test - NCI

Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by normal, as well as malignant, cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in the blood. For this test, a blood sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results are usually reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood. The blood level of PSA is often elevated in people with prostate cancer, and the PSA test was originally approved by the FDA in 1986 to monitor the progression of prostate cancer in men who had already been diagnosed with the disease. In 1994, FDA approved the PSA test to be used in conjunction with a digital rectal exam (DRE) to aid in the detection of prostate cancer in men 50 years and older. Until about 2008, many doctors and professional organizations had encouraged yearly PSA screening for prostate cancer beginning at age 50. PSA testing (along with a DRE) is also often used by health care providers for individuals who report prostate symptoms to help determine the nature of the problem. In addition to prostate cancer, several benign (not cancerous) conditions can cause a person’s PSA level to rise, particularly prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (enlargement of the prostate). There is no evidence that either condition leads to prostate cancer, but someone can have one or both of these conditions and develop prostate cancer as well.

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