YOUR CANCER, YOUR LIFE – BLOOD TESTS (REFERENCE TO BLOOD TESTS)
May 12th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: CancerNo Comments
You may have been wondering why I have made no reference to blood tests yet. This is because blood tests are rarely useful in making a definite diagnosis of cancer. You remember the two essential steps in diagnosing cancer don’t you?— ’seeing’ the source of the symptom and taking a specimen. Blood tests are no use for either of these unless the cancer actually starts in one of the types of blood or lymph cells. With leukaemias, some myelomas and some lymphomas, enough malignant cells travel in the bloodstream to allow a diagnosis to be made by looking at a small sample of blood under the microscope. Even so, specimens from bone marrow or lymph nodes are usually necessary as well.
You may well ask: ‘But don’t many types of cancer spread through the bloodstream?’ Indeed they do. The problem is that only a few cells at a time are released from the primary cancer and they don’t stay in the blood for long. The chances of actually seeing them in a small blood specimen are minute. It can happen but it’s very rare.
Blood tests sometimes help by giving us clues as to where to look when cancer is suspected.
*78/40/1*
