Common Tumor Markers Currently in Use
| tumor markers | cancers | What else? | When/how used | Usual sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFP (Alpha-feto protein) |
Liver, germ cell cancer of ovaries or testes | Also elevated during pregnancy | Help diagnose, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence | Blood |
| B2M (Beta-2 microglobulin) | Multiple myeloma and lymphomas |
Present in many other conditions, including Crohn's disease and hepatitis; often used to determine cause of renal failure | Determine prognosis | Blood |
| CA 15-3 (Cancer antigen 15-3) |
Breast cancer and others, including lung, ovarian | Also elevated in benign breast conditions; doctor can use CA 15-3 or CA 27.29 (two different assays for same marker) | Stage disease, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence | Blood |
| CA 19-9 (Cancer antigen 19-9) |
Pancreatic, sometimes colorectal and bile ducts | Also elevated in pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease | Stage disease, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence | Blood |
| CA-125 (Cancer antigen 125) |
Ovarian | Also elevated with endometriosis, some other benign diseases and conditions; not recommended as a general screen | Help diagnose, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence | Blood |
| Calcitonin |
Thyroid medullary carcinoma | Also elevated in pernicious anemia and thyroiditis | Help diagnose, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence | Blood |
| CEA (Carcino-embryonic antigen) |
Colorectal, lung, breast, thyroid, pancreatic, liver, cervix, and bladder |
Elevated in other conditions such as hepatitis, COPD, colitis, pancreatitis, and in cigarette smokers | Monitor treatment and determine recurrence | Blood |
| Chromogranin A (CgA) | Neuroendocrine tumors (carcinoid tumors, neuroblastoma) | May be most sensitive tumor marker for carcinoid tumors | To help diagnose and monitor | Blood |
| Estrogen receptors | Breast |
Increased in hormone-dependent cancer | Determine prognosis and guide treatment | Tissue |
| hCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) | Testicular and trophoblastic disease |
Elevated in pregnancy, testicular failure | Help diagnose, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence | Blood, urine |
| Her-2/neu | Breast | Oncogene that is present in multiple copies in 20-30% of invasive breast cancer | Determine prognosis and guide treatment | Tissue |
| Monoclonal immunoglobulins |
Multiple myeloma and Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia | Overproduction of an immunoglobulin or antibody, usually detected by protein electrophoresis | Help diagnose, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence |
Blood, urine |
| Progesterone receptors | Breast | Increased in hormone-dependent cancer | Determine prognosis and guide treatment | Tissue |
| PSA (Prostate specific antigen), total and free | Prostate | Elevated in benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatitis and with age | Screen for and help diagnose, monitor treatment, and determine recurrence | Blood |
| Thyroglobulin | Thyroid | Used after thyroid is removed to evaluate treatment | Determine recurrence | Blood |
| Other Tumor Markers Less Widely Used | ||||
| BTA (Bladder tumor antigen) | Bladder | Not widely available, but gaining acceptance | Help diagnose and determine recurrence | Urine |
| CA 72-4 (Cancer antigen 72-4) | Ovarian | No evidence that it is better than CA-125 but may be useful when combined with it; still being studied | Help diagnose | Blood |
| Des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) | Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) | New test; often used along with an imaging study plus AFP and/or AFP-L3% to evaluate if someone with chronic liver disease has developed HCC | To evaluate risk of developing HCC; to evaluate treatment; to monitor for recurrence | Blood |
| EGFR (Her-1) | Solid tumors, such as of the lung (non small cell), head and neck, colon, pancreas, or breast | Not available in every laboratory | Guide treatment and determine prognosis | Tissue |
| NSE (Neuron-specific enolase) |
Neuroblastoma, small cell lung cancer | May be better than CEA for following this particular kind of lung cancer | Monitor treatment | Blood |
| NMP22 | Bladder |
Not widely used |
Help diagnose and determine recurrence | Urine |
| Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) | Prostate | Not widely used; levels increase normally with age | Help diagnose |
Blood |
| Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) |
Metastatic prostate cancer, myeloma, lung cancer | Not widely used anymore; elevated in prostatitis and other conditions | Help diagnose |
Blood |
| S-100 | Metastatic melanoma |
Not widely used |
Help diagnose |
Blood |
| Soluble Mesothelin-Related Peptides (SMRP) | Mesothelioma | Often used in conjunction with imaging tests | To monitor progression or recurrence | Blood |
| TA-90 | Metastatic melanoma |
Not widely used, being studied | Help diagnose |
Blood |
