How can You Detect The Cancer with Blood Test?

Of all diseases, the life-threatening one which many people are afraid of is cancer. Cancer constitutes a group of more than 100 different diseases. What makes it so dangerous is that it can occur in any part of your body. Another factor due to which many people are afraid of Cancer is the speed at which it grows and spreads. When the normal cells transform into cancerous ones they automatically multiply and spread. This is known as cancer.

You will be surprised to know that in the US the second most common cause of death is cancer. However, after the advent and development of science and technology in the last 20 years, the mortality rate of cancer has gone down. When a person is detected with cancer it does not mean the end of his life. Several medications have come up that help to keep cancer in control. If the cancerous cells in your body are identified at an early stage they can be treated and cured completely.

One of the ways for identifying whether you have cancer cells in your body is why undergoing blood tests. There are several blood tests. However not all blood tests are required for identifying cancerous cells in your body. Since many of you are not aware of the blood tests for cancer and how to detect cancer with a blood test, we have come up with a blog. In this blog, we will share with you the various blood tests that help to detect cancer. Therefore, without further delay let’s get started with the blog.

Can blood tests help to detect cancer?

Many people have a dilemma as to whether a blood test can help to identify cancerous cells in the body. However, a blood test is one of the many ways that most doctors and medical practitioners ask you to conduct the first step of diagnosing and managing cancer. These are the tests that can help you to understand whether you have cancer cells inside your body:

• CBC or complete blood count
• Blood protein testing
• Tumour markers
• Circulating tumour cell test

Other ways by which you can have an idea of whether you have cancerous cells in your body are given below:

• A biopsy is where the healthcare professional takes a sample of the tissue from the affected region.
• Physical examination
• Medical imaging like MRI, CT scan and X-ray.
• Special tests like pap smear tests for cervical cancer and mammogram for breast cancer.

Wondering how helpful these blood tests are? These are the ways by which you can benefit from the blood tests:

1. Identifies the harmful proteins and chemicals in the blood that might trigger cancer
2. Gives an idea of overall health.
3. Denotes the extreme change in the levels of different blood cells due to cancer
4. Organ function
5. Treatment options
6. Stages of cancer
7. Recurrence of cancer
8. Progression and monitoring of the treatment

However, not all types of cancers can be identified by blood tests. The types of cancer that you can detect through a blood test include leukaemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. If the doctor something unusual in your body, he will ask you to conduct a blood test. In a way, the blood test can be called the mode of assuring about the presence of cancerous cells in your body.

Details about complete blood count or CBC

CBC or complete blood count gives an accurate analysis of three different types of blood cells that circulate throughout the bloodstream of a human body. the reason for undergoing a CBC is to diagnose cancer well and understand the degree to which the disease has spread.

Besides, there are some treatments for cancer that leaves an adverse impact on the blood count of the human body. That is why all Healthcare professionals recommend undergoing CBC at regular intervals throughout the treatment. Each blood cell in the body has a normal range. Every laboratory uses this normal range as its benchmark and decides whether a person’s results are higher or lower than this normal range. The three different types of cells and their ranges are given below:

• Platelet helps to clot the blood. (150,000 mL to 400,00 mL)
• Red blood cells help to circulate oxygen in the body. (13 to 17 dL for men and 11.5 to 15.5 dL for women)
• White blood cells fight infections. (5000 to 10000 mL)

Tumour markers

The substances composed of cancerous cells for the normal cells of a human body that respond to cancer are known as tumour markers. While some tumour markers and not a particular type of cancer, some others can indicate something else. There is still a lot of research going on regarding tumour markers. At present these are the tumour markers that you will commonly find:

Blood protein testing

In blood protein testing, the medical practitioner uses a particular process known as electrophoresis. The purpose of electrophoresis in blood protein testing is to find the presence of specific proteins in your blood. Here, the proteins known as immunoglobulin, are released by the immune system of the body, when a person is suffering from diseases like myeloma.

Circulating tumour cell testing

Circulating tumour cell testing is a new form of blood test that researchers have included to diagnose cancer. When you are infected with cancer the healthy cells are broken off from the tumour and get mixed into the bloodstream. This process of breakdown of the tumour self and its subsequent mixture into the bloodstream is known as metastasizing. This indicates the spread of cancer. Besides, the test can also help to indicate the type of cancer one is suffering from.

Conclusion

Now that you have a clear idea about the different types of blood tests that help to detect cancer, you will be much more careful about your health. In any case, if you find anything suspicious about your health or unusual, do not hesitate to visit a private clinic for blood test in London.