Tumor markers list

A tumor marker is anything present in or produced by cancer cells or other cells of the body in response to cancer or certain benign (noncancerous) conditions that provides information about a cancer, such as how aggressive it is, what kind of treatment it may respond to, or whether it is responding to treatment.

Tumor markers have traditionally been proteins or other substances that are made at higher amounts by cancer cells than normal cells.

These can be found in the blood, urine, stool, tumors, or other tissues or bodily fluids of some patients with cancer. 

Increasingly, however, genomic markers (such as tumor gene mutations, patterns of tumor gene expression, and nongenetic changes in tumor DNA) are being used as tumor markers.

These markers are found both in tumors themselves and in tumor fragments shed into bodily fluids. 

Many different tumor markers have been characterized and are in clinical use. Some are associated with only one type of cancer, whereas others are associated with multiple cancer types.