A 60-year-old man has presented to a clinic and is requesting screening for tumor markers after reading about them in a magazine. What can the clinician most accurately tell the man about the clinical use of tumor markers?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

As diagnostic tools, tumor markers have limitations. Nearly all markers can be elevated in benign conditions, and most are not elevated in the early stages of malignancy.
Hence, tumor markers have limited value as screening tests. Furthermore, they are not in themselves specific enough to permit a diagnosis of a malignancy.

A 60-Year-Old Man Has Presented to a Clinic and Is