Clinical significance of tumor markers

Clinical significance of tumor markers

In the broad sense of the term, a tumor marker is any indicator whose concentration may increase in the presence of a neoplastic process in the body. In this sense, classic tumor markers are, for example, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lactate dehydrogenase. Such markers also increase in inflammatory or necrotic processes - i.e. they are very non-specific for a neoplastic disease. In the narrow sense, tumor markers are macromolecules whose formation and increase in concentration in the body are somehow related to the occurrence and spread of malignant tumors. They can be bound to the cell membrane and examined by histochemical methods or synthesized and excreted by tumor tissue, released during the decay of this tissue or formed by other cells under the influence of tumor growth, being secreted into body fluids and determined there. This group of tumor markers, which are examined in blood serum or urine, are the subject of further discussion.