Clinical Significance of Tumor Markers

Hisanao Ohkura

Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital

The aims of clinical use of tumor markers are following-up high risk persons, differentiating cancer and/or its subclasses, staging and predicting the outcome, monitoring and evaluating therapies, detecting recurrence and metastases earlier, and targeting tumors in vivo. Knowing profile of markers from a cancer is helpful in differentiating a tumor subclass that may suggest a worse prognosis, higher metastatic ability or better response to a special therapy. The preoperative levels of serum markers correlate with clinical stage, risk of distant metastasis and prognosis. Success or failure of therapy is easily monitored by markers. Detecting markers in surgically removed specimens tells us that they will appear in serum prior to diagnosing recurrence by X-ray or ultrasound examinations.

Key words
tumor marker, serum diagnosis of cancer, prognostic factor of cancer, monitoring of cancer patients, cancer specificity and sensitivity

Reprint requests
Hisanao Ohkura Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital
5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuoku, Tokyo, 104 JAPAN

Accepted
November 1, 1993

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