Does colon cancer show up in routine blood work

Blood tests can provide clues to help your health care team identify and treat your cancer, but they shouldn't be used on their own.

Cancer screening blood tests for females

Typically, other tests are necessary. Below, we explain how blood tests can be used in conjunction with other cancer screenings as well as the type of tests that are best suited to help diagnose and manage cancer.

The role of blood tests in cancer diagnosis and treatment

Aside from leukemia, a broad term for cancers of the blood cells, most cancers cannot be detected during routine blood work.

However, blood tests can provide helpful information about:

• Overall health
• Organ function
• Chemicals and proteins in your blood that might indicate cancer
• Levels of blood cells that are too high or too low, perhaps because of cancer
• Whether treatment is effective or if the disease is progressing
• Whether cancer has come back

All blood tests can be done in a doctor's office, clinic or hospital setting, and are typically performed by nurses or technicians.

However, they can be administered by a variety of health care

do standard blood tests show cancer

do regular blood tests detect cancer