Tumor markers are substances that are released when tumor cells are stimulated, usually in the blood, pleural fluid, and other excretions, and can reflect the presence of a tumor to some extent.
Therefore, patients will pay special attention to the specific value of this substance during the usual physical examination, and once the tumor marker is elevated, they will be very scared and feel that they have cancer.
But in fact, although the elevated tumor markers may be related to cancer disease, it is not absolute, and sometimes there are elevated tumor markers in some normal tissues, so patients should not be overly worried.
Since there are many types of tumor markers, it is important for patients to judge them on a case-by-case basis. The following are some of the main causes of elevated tumor markers.
1. Cancer
First of all, the main reason for the occurrence of cancer disease leads to the elevated content of tumor markers. It is understood that if there is a malignant tumor in the patient's body, the value of tumor markers will increase significantly, and the alpha-fetoprotein content of liver cancer patients will increase significantly.
In addition, if the patient has pancreatic cancer, it is likely that the sugar antigen CA19-9 level will be excessive at the time of the examination. In this regard, patients should pay special attention to the fact that different indicators will correspond to different cancer diseases.
2. Inflammatory diseases
Not only that, if the patient has some inflammatory diseases, such as hepatitis, it will also lead to an increase in the amount of alpha-fetoprotein in the body.
At the same time, the occurrence of some chronic diseases may also be one of the reasons for the elevation of tumor markers, such as pelvic inflammatory disease and endometriosis, which may increase the content of sugar antigen CA125.
3. Drug effects
The use of many drugs may also lead to elevated tumor markers, such as thymus peptides, rabies vaccine, etc.
Therefore, when the patient finds that the indicators of tumor markers are elevated, he can first determine whether he has taken some drugs recently, and understand whether the drugs will cause the problem of tumor marker elevation.
Fourth, the storage of specimens
If the blood specimen is not stored properly during the testing process, and there is a problem with cross-contamination of the specimen, it may lead to abnormal test results.
In addition, different testing instruments and different types of kits will have certain differences in sensitivity and specificity, so the sample may not accurately reflect the real situation of the patient.
Therefore, when analyzing the results, it is necessary to pay attention to the comparison of multiple groups of detection results, so as to improve the accuracy of the results.
5. Individual differences
In addition, the indicators of tumor markers will fluctuate with individual differences. It is known that if the patient has the habit of drinking alcohol or often stays up late, it is likely to lead to an increase in tumor markers.
In addition, in some special periods, there will be certain differences in the content of tumor markers. If the patient's blood is tested during menstruation or pregnancy, the level of AFP in the blood will increase significantly. Therefore, it is important to take this issue into account when examining tumor markers.
These are some of the main reasons for the elevation of tumor markers. In general, elevations in tumor markers due to nonneoplastic causes are usually one-time and less severe.
Therefore, patients do not need to be particularly worried, they can wait until 2 weeks later to go to the hospital for a follow-up, and if the indicators have decreased, then they can not be treated. However, if there is a significant increase in the index, further tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis of the cancer.