Onkomarkery - tumor markers - specific compounds contained in the body fluids (blood, urine), which are formed in response to the development of malignant neoplasms. These substances help in the diagnosis of cancer, including in the early stages, before the stage of clinical manifestations. In addition, the definition of ocomarkers allows you to judge the effectiveness of the treatment and the prognosis of the disease. Let's consider what oncomarkers show bowel cancer , and what needs to be handled for their detection.
Oncomarkers for the detection of bowel cancer
Oncomarkers for the detection of cancer of the small intestine, as well as the colon and rectum, are five substances. It should be borne in mind that oncomarker substances can be contained in small amounts in a healthy person, as well as produced due to various pathological processes not associated with cancer in other organs. Let us consider in more detail what are the bowel markers of the intestine, and what deviations from the norm are likely to indicate cancer:
- REA is a cancerogerminal antigen. This substance is produced only by the fetal cells during pregnancy, and normally in an adult, its concentration should be less than 5 ng / ml. This indicator may indicate the presence and size of malignant neoplasm.
- CA 19-9 - carbohydrate antigen - a nonspecific marker, which does not give an idea of the localization of cancer, but allows to speak about the presence of a malignant tumor in the body at a value of more than 40 IU / ml.
- CA 242 is a specific oncomarker, which at a value of more than 30 IU / ml may indicate cancer of the rectum and large intestine, but also of the pancreas .
CA 72-4 - oncomarker, the normal amount of which does not exceed 6.3 IU / ml. It is indicative in colorectal cancer, as well as cancer of the stomach, mammary glands, ovaries, etc. - Tu M2-RK is a tumor pyruvate kinase of the M2 type. This oncomarker shows the change in metabolic processes in cancer cells of various localizations.
The first four described markers are determined in venous blood, and the latter - in the analysis of feces. Since none of these substances shows 100% specificity, a combination is used to determine bowel cancer. Also, analyzes are necessarily supported by clinical studies.