blood tests and cancer

[snowgoose]

Hi :)
have seen a lot of posts recently that ask if blood tests show up cancer .and some not wholly true replies .
First off .....I am not a doctor ...but have worked in the NHS for a long time .
so happy to be corrected and emphasise this is general information and DOES not mean you dont see your doctor for more in depth information .

Ask your doctor what blood tests he/she is doing .........it is important .
Some are for general health indicators and others are what we call tumour markers /blood clot /heart attack etc tests .

The full blood count is common and will show up warning signs of cancer in leukaemia and lymphoma if present and a huge other range of things like anaemia and infection or bleeding problem .
The other test U and E looks at the function of your kidneys and the levels of electrolytes in your blood [potassium and sodium etc ] ..........again can be an indicator ...........but has a vast range of other things that can be wrong .
it does not tell if cancer is present on its own .

same with liver function tests .
there are others that look for inflammation in the body system like CRP and ESR.... .again something the doctor will follow up .......but not saying cancer .

tumour markers have a bit more weight of course ...........which is why you should know if your doctor has ordered this .

Now then to conclude my husband has had tumour markers back high and we have had an awful time waiting for results from biopsy :weep:
the answer ? no malignancy .something is going on..........but not cancer thank goodness . so even these are not 100% accurate cancer diagnosis x

so no blood test can stand on its own without a full history and examination by your doctor and further tests like biopsy or scan .

trust your doctor xxx

[nomorepanic]

Thanks for that Snow

Can you just correct one thing - CPR should be CRP. I know all about that reading having Crohn's lol. I also think the other reading is the ESR. These and the white cell count can indicate inflammation etc.

[snowgoose]

crikey Nic :blush:

thanks for that ..wholly different thing ha ha !!

[nomorepanic]

I am forever asking what my CRP reading is lol. Thanks for the corrections.

[MVP123]

Hi snowgoose, thank for all that info, its all very informative, but idiot that I am I just need some further clarification. When I had my blood tests done, I looked at the envelope and all the usual was ticked, kidney, liver, thyroid and FBC, I was also tested for blood clots a week after. Now with all those tests if I had advanced cancer of any kind would something show up in any of those tests as abnormal such as being anaemic or a lower/higher blood count. I know they won't tell you if you have cancer, just need to know if those blood tests are all normal them the lieklihood is that you don't have any kind of cancer or infection, I know I should ask my GP all this and I get tempted to but I know she would probably tell me what I want to hear cause she knows how anxious I am and she is so nice.

[snowgoose]

Hi :)
with advanced cancer MVP ..........Some of your results would be haywire ...but more importantly your symptoms would be very obvious .really obvious .
and your doctor would be acting NOW ..........and would have done by now xx

re the bladder hell you are going through .........had exactly the same 10 years ago ...the pressure and wanting to pee ..had urodynamcic tests done and the rest ..........it went in its own time once I stopped focussing on it . easier said than done I know :hugs:
the culprit was anxiety ..but I didnt know that then . stay calm if you can xxxxx

[MVP123]

Hi snowgoose, firstly thanx so much for your reasurrance, which has helped, but I think its just worse cause I am getting waves of nausea most mornings, this problem with my leg which I have had for over 2 years so I am lumping all these symptoms together and coming up with cancer. How long did your bladder problems last, because mine have become so distracting now its all I can think about :-(

[nomorepanic]

Nausea is very common with anxiety as well don't forget.

Did you try not going every 10 minutes to retrain your bladder? Maybe it is worth asking the doctor if they think you do have an overactive bladder as well.

[MVP123]

Hi there, yesterday I made myself wait for at least an hour between going the toilet and I thought it was getting better in the afternoon, but it came back on the night and today its just as worse even though I am only going every hour or so. Its just getting to me so much now I can't stop crying and hurting myself. I am on fluoxetine and diazepam at the moment but none of that takes away the pressure from down below :-(

[nomorepanic]

I think you will have to go back to the docs then and tell them all of this and how much it is distressing you.

[KayleighJane]

hi snow thanks for this information it is good to know. what is it that you do in the NHS? :) x