In recent years, cancer has consistently ranked as the leading cause of death among the nation's top ten, making early diagnosis and treatment of cancer an important issue and goal for the medical community.
Tumor Markers
Tumor markers refer to any substances associated with tumor cells, but those used clinically are mostly surface antigens on cancer cell membranes or intracellular proteins. Laboratories can detect them in patients' blood or bodily fluids using methods such as RIA, ELISA, and monoclonal antibodies.
Commonly used tumor markers today, such as α-FP, CEA, PSA, CA-125, etc., can generally serve as adjuncts in cancer diagnosis.
Note: A definitive cancer diagnosis cannot rely solely on a single tumor marker test; the patient's clinical symptoms, family history, and the physician's physical examination still play a significant role.
Common Cancer Warning Signs
- Skin cancer: persistent ulcer that does not heal, warts and moles that enlarge rapidly and change color
- Nasopharyngeal cancer: frequent headaches and chronic nasal congestion, tinnitus, nosebleeds, and enlarged cervical lymph nodes
- Throat cancer: chronic cough or hoarseness
- Esophageal cancer: chronic indigestion, progressive difficulty swallowing
- Breast cancer: lump in the breast or nearby, nipple discharge
- Lung cancer: unexplained persistent cough, chest tightness, fever, sputum with blood streaks or clots
- Liver cancer: generalized fatigue and weakness, loss of appetite, upper abdominal pain, and weight loss
- Stomach cancer: unexplained anemia, stomach discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and changes in food preferences
- Colorectal cancer: blood or mucus in stool, or changes in bowel habits
- Kidney cancer, bladder cancer: difficulty urinating, blood in urine
- Prostate cancer: urinary difficulty, feeling of urethral narrowing, sense of residual urine
- Cervical cancer: abnormal bleeding or discharge, especially in women after menopause
Confirmatory Diagnosis
The final confirmation of cancer still requires special instrument detection, such as:
- Ultrasound examination
- Computed tomography scan
- Magnetic resonance imaging
- Nuclear medicine tumor imaging
- Positron emission tomography scan
These examinations can determine the tumor's location, size, extent of invasion, and whether there is distant metastasis, thereby defining the cancer stage.
