With the exception of blood cancers, blood tests generally can't absolutely tell whether you have cancer or some other noncancerous condition, but they can give your doctor clues about what's going on inside your body.
What cancers are detected by blood tests?
What types of blood tests can help detect cancer?
- Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer.
- Cancer antigen-125 (CA-125) for ovarian cancer.
- Calcitonin for medullary thyroid cancer.
- Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for liver cancer and testicular cancer.
Can blood work identify cancer?
Although there is no single test that can detect cancer in the body, doctors do use several blood tests to diagnose cancer. They use these alongside other methods, which include imaging, chemical analysis, and biopsies.
