HealthCentral: Can Blood Tests Help Detect Cancer?
HealthCentral recently interviewed Robert Figlin, MD, deputy director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer and the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology, about blood tests that can play a role in identifying cancer.
Figlin told HealthCentral that routine lab tests that measure and monitor cells and substances in the blood, such as the complete blood count or metabolic profile, can find evidence of a health issue such as cancer. However, they are not tools to detect cancer.
“There are many things that cause abnormalities in the blood that are completely independent of a cancer diagnosis, and one has to be careful of not using them to over-diagnose something the test was not developed for,” he said.
Figlin told HealthCentral that new, multicancer early-detection tests have limitations and typically require additional imaging or testing prior to a diagnosis. He said genetic, or germline, testing helps people with a family history of cancer learn if they have a higher risk of developing the disease.
“Germline testing is helpful to identify non-cancer patients’ risk and is often discussed with a genetic counselor to decide what, if anything, should or should not be done outside of the normal screening recommendations for cancer, such as mammography and colonoscopy [for certain age groups],” he told HealthCentral.
Experts emphasize that blood tests should be used alongside established screening methods for cancer, as well as regular checkups and discussions with a physician about disease risk, as part of a comprehensive approach to cancer detection.
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