Blood tests post treatment
Hi there again lovelies just wondering if any one is the same, I saw my oncol in feb and am due to see him again end of this month and he said at our last consult he didn't need me to do the three mon...
Forum Discussion
Margie,
Its a hard one because some oncologists follow tumour markers and others choose not to.
For tumour markers to be relevant one must look at their trends over time.
The old general consensus seemed to be that early diagnosis of recurrence did not affect overall survival so doing follow up tests increased women anxiety without health benefit.
I am not certain that given the therapeutic advances in the last 10 years - and heaps more in the pipeline for the next 10 - that still holds - everything I read suggests that if one is diagnosed with a recurrence and you are oligometatstic - so one organ involment and less then 2-3 lesions ( there is a better def of it but you get the drift) one does better, even when adjusted for time to progress.
That leaves everyone - oncologists and women and some men - trying to figure out what is appropriate/best follow up for each individual situation.
I am HR Positive HER negative, almost two years out - my oncologist does tumour markers, and at the moment we scan yearly. I hate the scans and tests but I want to know early.
So trust your gut instinct - if you want tumour markers done and the occ scan ask for them.
(())
Its a hard one because some oncologists follow tumour markers and others choose not to.
For tumour markers to be relevant one must look at their trends over time.
The old general consensus seemed to be that early diagnosis of recurrence did not affect overall survival so doing follow up tests increased women anxiety without health benefit.
I am not certain that given the therapeutic advances in the last 10 years - and heaps more in the pipeline for the next 10 - that still holds - everything I read suggests that if one is diagnosed with a recurrence and you are oligometatstic - so one organ involment and less then 2-3 lesions ( there is a better def of it but you get the drift) one does better, even when adjusted for time to progress.
That leaves everyone - oncologists and women and some men - trying to figure out what is appropriate/best follow up for each individual situation.
I am HR Positive HER negative, almost two years out - my oncologist does tumour markers, and at the moment we scan yearly. I hate the scans and tests but I want to know early.
So trust your gut instinct - if you want tumour markers done and the occ scan ask for them.
(())