@EileenKCarpenter ^^^ this is why I am glad that there are people like you who know stuff I don't. I know *nothing* about cancer detection or treatment beyond "it's improving slowly". @b4cks4w
@stueytheround @EileenKCarpenter @b4cks4w The challenging issue for lab tests for cancer is there isn’t a cancer, but multitudes of cancers.
@yogapaddlerun @stueytheround @EileenKCarpenter @b4cks4w
Indeed! We really need to educate folks.
Cancer is a category not a disease. There are N different types each of skin, breast, prostate, lung, liver … cancers. Cancer just means runaway cell growth.
@EileenKCarpenter @stueytheround well I'm sorry and I wish it were different.
@stueytheround @b4cks4w
The difference with prostate cancer is the level of “prostate specific antigen” (protein made only in the prostate) already has a validated blood test. There isn’t a breast-specific antigen, and even tests like CEA, CA-125, CA 19-9, etc are so nonspecific that they are only useful for comparing levels in a single person already known to have cancer, to monitor response to therapy.