There is no way a physician can tell by a CEA result whether you have cancer or some other benign condition. Both malignant (cancerous) and benign (noncancerous) conditions can increase the CEA level. Benign conditions which can elevate CEA include infections, peptic ulcer disease, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, some benign tumors in the same organs in which an elevated CEA indicates cancer, and as I mentioned previouisly, smoking. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause a temporary rise in CEA due to the death of tumor cells and release of CEA into the blood stream. Benign disease does not usually cause an increase above 10 ng/ml.
There is no single diagnostic test for cancer. Estimates of the premature deaths that could have been avoided through screening vary from 3% to 35%, depending on a variety of assumptions. Screening may reduce cancer morbidity since treatment for earlier-stage cancers is often less aggressive than for more advanced cancers. At least 2 requirements must be met for screening to be useful: #1--There must be a test or procedure that will detect cancers earlier than if the cancer were detected as a result of the development of symptoms. #2--There must be evidence that treatment initiated earlier as a consequence of screening results in an improved outcome.
There are several potential harms that must be considered against any potential benefit of screening for cancer e.g. the false-positive test result, which may lead to anxiety and unnecessary invasive diagnostic and/or treatment procedures. A less familiar harm is overdiagnosis, i.e., the diagnosis of a condition that would not have become clinically significant had it not been detected by screening which is becoming more common as screening tests become more sensitive at detecting tiny tumors. Conversely, a false-negative screening test may falsely reassure an individual with subsequent clinical signs or symptoms of cancer and thereby delay their diagnosis and effective treatment.
Screening is a means of detecting disease early in asymptomatic people. Positive results of examinations, tests, and/or procedures used in screening are not diagnostic they possibly identify people who may be at risk for the presence of cancer who warrant further evaluation.
A diagnosis of cancer is confirmed by a biopsy or tissue examination in the work-up following positive screening tests but rarely following only a single test. And then, it is always wise to get a second opinion.
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