Oncomarker sa 15-3
The chest is one of the most vulnerable places in a woman's body: it is this part of the body that cancer often attacks. The tumor marker sa 15-3 helps to identify the tumor and follow the course of the treatment of breast cancer. What is the decoding analysis? Which indicator will allow you to breathe with relief, and which one will be terrible news for a woman?
Why donate blood for tumor markers?
Each year, more than 1 million women hear the disappointing diagnosis of breast cancer. This is the most common form of cancer. But in case of detecting a malignant tumor at an early stage, the prognosis is positive in almost 100% of cases. Therefore, it is important to timely identify this pathology.
Help in the diagnosis of cancer have tumor markers. In response, specific proteins begin to be produced in the body. These are tumor markers, by the presence and amount of which one can learn about the development of a tumor and its localization. The presence of cancer in the mammary glands may indicate ca 15 3. What does such a blood test mean, how high is its informative value?
It is impractical to use for accurate diagnosis of cancer at an early stage. The main purpose of this tumor marker is to provide data on the course of the disease, relapse and treatment effectiveness. That is, a single value of sa 15 3 does little to help the doctor and the patient. Much more interesting is the dynamics of the tumor marker level (its rate of increase), which may indicate metastasis.
What is the normal analysis response?
If a woman has a thickening, pain, discharge from the mammary gland and other signs of her lesion, then a sa 15 3 analysis can be prescribed for the differential diagnosis of cancer and benign mastopathy. The rate for women is 9 u / ml but not higher than 29 u / ml. There are several quantitative gradations of this oncote, namely:
- 30 u / ml - threshold (maximum allowable limit);
- more than 30 units / ml - high concentration;
- over 50 units / ml - a very high level.
If a woman is completely healthy, then the amount of this antigen in her blood is 13.4 plus or minus 6.5 units / ml.
In the early stages of cancer (first and second), this cancer marker rises in just 20% of patients, and later in 70%. From this it is clear that in itself he will establish the fact of the development of a malignant tumor only in some cases.
How to understand that showed tumor marker?
How much can the cancer marker of the mammary gland sa 15 3 be exceeded in cancer? The decoding is done taking into account how strongly the value of the oncotester deviates from the normal values and the amount of antigen increases (or decreases) in the course of treatment.
The threshold level (from 20 to 30 units per ml) may indicate a benign tumor or mastopathy. But it is also a signal that it is necessary to continue the examination to exclude the presence of cancer cells. Such indicators can be considered as a sign that there are no cancerous growths in the mammary gland. At the same time, it is still impossible to completely exclude this possibility without conducting a mammography or other examinations (if there are signs of illness).
Warning: many women make a fatal mistake. They calm down and refuse to see a breast specialist because they believe that their result is within the normal range. This is not true! True result can be obtained only if you control the change of the marker for a long time.
If the oncomarker numbers reach (or exceeded) a high level and the woman is not pregnant, then you should definitely visit the mammologist and undergo additional diagnostics (do a biopsy).
A very high level, unfortunately, is usually associated with the active spread of metastases. Typically, these indicators are found in patients who already know that they have cancer (the only exception may be cirrhosis of the liver).
Why is the antigen increased?
Although this tumor marker is associated with breast cancer, it is often increased in the presence of benign or malignant tumors in other organs. The number of oncological diseases for which its value increases to 38 u / ml (and more) are:
- stomach or pancreatic cancer;
- cancer in the ovaries, cervix;
- bronchogenic cancer;
- hepatocellular carcinoma.
The increase in ca 15 3 from 30 to 37 u / ml is not necessarily associated with oncology. Such abnormalities occur if the tumor is benign. Protein-antigen increases in the following pathologies:
- breast fibroadenoma;
- cirrhotic liver damage (up to 50 u / ml);
- endometriosis;
- tuberculosis;
- failure of the immune system.
Infant nursing is the only non-dangerous cause that affects the value of ca 153. Decoding can show that the norm is exceeded to 50 u / ml if the analysis falls on the last trimester of pregnancy. This is not a reason to suspect cancer in a woman.
What is the analysis itself?
To pass the test for antigen sa 15 3 is very simple. The source material for the study is venous blood. The analysis should come on an empty stomach (since the last meal there must be at least 8 hours). On the eve of blood donation, it is necessary to refuse fatty, sweet food, alcohol. It is advisable not to overeat. In addition, it is recommended to avoid serious physical exertion.
The patient should always inform the doctor about recently transferred infectious diseases, cysts or neoplasms in the body (which have already been diagnosed).
The analysis is calculated for the morning indicators. The result will be received in 1-2 days.
If you were sent to donate blood to a tumor marker Sa 15-3, the doctor must do the decoding: this is a very serious disease. Therefore, even if the level of this antigen, in your opinion, is within the normal range, still show the answer to a specialist. After all, he will give him an assessment taking into account the symptoms, the age of the patient and other important diagnostic factors.