Tumour Markers

Common Tumour Markers:

Oncofetal Antigens
- Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)
- Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)
- Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)
  - elevations in GI cancers, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer
  - increases with age and due to smoking
Carbohydrate Antigens (mucins/carbohydrate-rich glycoproteins)
- Cancer Antigen 125 (CA-125)
  - Elevated with ovarian carcinomas and endometrial cancer
- Cancer Antigen 19-9
  - Elevated with pancreatic carcinomas, other cancers (colorectal, GI, and lung)
- Cancer Antigen 15-3
  - Elevated with breast carcinomas and adenocarcinomas (benign)
Beta-2 Microglobulin (B2M)
- Associated with blood and bone marrow cancers (MM, CLL, B-cell lymphoma)
- Elevated in some inflammatory disorders
Thyroglobulin (Tg)
- Associated with thyroid cancers
Catecholamine Metabolites
- Vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) is most common
  - Associated with neural crest tumours and neuroblastomas
- Homovanillic acid (HVA)
  - Associated with neural crest tumours and neuroblastomas

Limitations