Cancer is a frightening group of diseases that occurs when cells in a person's body mutate and begin to divide and duplicate uncontrollably. Many cancers spread to nearby cells and/or organs unless they are eliminated through surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. While cancer is one of the main causes of death in America and the world, advanced screening and diagnosis methods have helped reduce cancer fatalities. In order to protect yourself and your family, it is important to know what diagnosis methods exist and the advantages and disadvantages of each method for cancer diagnosis.
Blood and Urine Tests
Blood and urine tests alone are usually not sufficient for a doctor to make a positive cancer diagnosis. However, for certain cancers, blood and urine tests offer information that will lead a doctor to suspect cancer and test you further. Cancers such as leukemia, kidney cancer, liver cancer or any cancer that has already spread to one of these vital organs may affect your complete blood-count results. For instance, a person with leukemia will probably have too many white blood cells and inadequate red blood cell counts and blood platelets.
Urine-analysis tests such as cultures help doctors diagnose kidney or bladder cancer. The presence of cancer cells in a urine sample will lead to more precise testing for a positive diagnosis. In addition, since excess protein or blood in the urine occur with a variety of cancers, urine tests are often an initial indicator that a person may have cancer. However, since many non-cancerous conditions also produce blood or protein in the urine, further testing is essential.
Imaging Techniques
Imaging techniques give doctors and radiologists an in-depth view of the body. If cancer is present, the growth may appear on X-rays, CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds. Imaging techniques vary in the level of detail they show, cost, and the risks they present to patients. Since some imaging techniques such as CT scans emit radiation, doctors will use non-radiation imaging sources when possible. However, although an X-ray also emits radiation, it is cheaper than an MRI and only emits a moderate amount of radiation. For cancers such as lung cancer, a chest X-ray may show a tumor. Despite their convenience, X-rays only give a limited level of detail. Thus, a doctor will evaluate a growth detected on an X-ray in further detail with an MRI or a CT scan.
As each imaging technique has its strengths and limitations, doctors vary on which imaging method is used depending on what type of cancer they suspect. Cancers such as testicular cancer show up on ultrasounds, which create images through high-frequency sound waves. Since ultrasounds do not give off radiation, ultrasounds are preferable when applicable. MRIs are used to help diagnose brain cancer and lymphoma, mammogram X-rays are used for breast cancer and CT scans are used for lung cancer.
Like blood and urine tests, imaging techniques alone do not lead to positive diagnoses. Since a growth that appears on an imaging test may or may not contain cancer cells, a doctor must perform a biopsy to ensure the presence of cancer.
Biopsy
During a biopsy, a doctor removes a small tissue sample from the part of your body that a doctor believes may contain cancer. The doctor will send the tissue sample to a laboratory for analysis. If cancer cells are found, a doctor will have enough information to make a positive diagnosis. Depending on the part of the body in question, a doctor will perform a biopsy either through an injection that extracts tissue or fluid from the body, or via a small surgery. For certain cancers such as colorectal cancer or esophageal cancer, a doctor removes tissue bits during screening tests. Other cancers such as lung cancer and liver cancer require more invasive techniques to acquire a tissue sample. In addition to a diagnosis, biopsies will help a doctor determine the "stage" of cancer and how far it has progressed through the body.
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