SamQKitty

The answer to your question, Gel, is a definite "maybe."

The first thing to understand about cancer is that it is NOT one illness but, rather, many types of illnesses. Bladder cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, uterine cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, lymphoma...each one of these is a distinct and separate illness, and they bear absolutely no relation to each other except that they are basically mutations of normal cells. Even within a so-called "specific" type of cancer, such as breast cancer, there are varieties that are quite different from each other. This is why it's been impossible to develop one test that will "screen for cancer."

Certain types of cancer might show up as something abnormal on a cbc...such as an extremely low or extremely high white or red blood cell count. This would not necessarily mean cancer, but it would be an indication that something's wrong and further testing is needed.

For certain cancers, there are "marker" tests, such as the Ca125 for breast/ovarian cancer. There's a marker test for prostate cancer, too. The CA125 is not routinely done, as it usually won't get elevated until there's a significant enough mass of cancerous cells and by that time you'll either have an observable lump or other symptoms. The CA125 is usually used as an adjunct to other tests (such as mammograms, CT scans) that might be done if you suspect a problem, or it might be used as an indication as to whether chemotherapy is working.

The prostate cancer marker test, on the other hand, is routinely done on men over a certain age, but it also gives a lot of false positives. If the prostate is enlarged it may elevate the marker; if there's a prostate infection (which is not uncommon), it may be elevated.

As for other types of cancers, most of them do not show up in the routine blood tests that we have done on a yearly physical.

Grace,
The reason they order all those tests when you're on chemo is to make sure that the chemo isn't killing off too many normal cells. If your red or white cell counts go too low, they have to delay chemo treatments to allow your body to recover a bit. This is quite common...you might have two chemo treatments a week apart, then have low red/white cell counts and not get your third treatment for two weeks instead of in one week. They do also order marker tests when you're going through treatment so they can tell if the treatment is working. Hope you're doing okay and tolerating the treatment without too many side effects.

Ruth
5-year survivor of Cancer of Unknown Primary
Currently battling Bladder Cancer (not related to first cancer)