Medical Questions » Pathology Questions » Question No. 783
| Question: | My mother and sister have had breast cancer, and my doctor wants me to have expensive blood tests every year to see if I will get it. How do these work and are they reliable? |
| Answer: | The development of blood tests for specific antigens that are produced against particular types of cancer is one of the most exciting recent developments in pathology. Unfortunately the technology is still far from perfect, but antigens against a number of cancers including those that occur in the breast, pancreas, liver, colon, ovary, uterus and prostate have so far been detected.
Unfortunately they are unreliable as a way of detecting cancer as there is no absolute value in any one person above which a cancer can be said to be present, but a series of tests over a period of months or years may show increasing levels of the antigen which may indicate the presence of a particular cancer.
The tests are particularly useful in following the progress of treatment in a patient (if successful, antigen levels should decrease steadily), or in watching a patient who has a bad family history of a particular type of cancer.
The cost is not covered by Medicare, and so these tests are expensive, but may be useful in your situation. You must, of course, continue to regularly examine your breasts yourself, and have mammograms every year or two.
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