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Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Understanding laboratory tests. National Cancer Institute. Accessed Oct. The doctor may start by asking about your personal and family medical history and do a physical exam. The doctor also may order lab tests, imaging tests scans , or other tests or procedures. You may also need a biopsy, which is often the only way to tell for sure if you have cancer. This page covers tests that are often used to help diagnose cancer.
Depending on the symptoms you have, you may have other tests, too. These summaries include detailed information about and pictures of diagnostic tests and procedures for each specific type of cancer. High or low levels of certain substances in your body can be a sign of cancer. So, lab tests of your blood , urine , or other body fluids that measure these substances can help doctors make a diagnosis. However, abnormal lab results are not a sure sign of cancer.
Learn more about laboratory tests and how they are used to diagnose cancer. Some lab tests involve testing blood or tissue samples for tumor markers. Tumor markers are substances that are produced by cancer cells or by other cells of the body in response to cancer. Most tumor markers are made by normal cells and cancer cells but are produced at much higher levels by cancer cells. Learn more about tumor markers and how they are used to diagnose cancer. Imaging tests create pictures of areas inside your body that help the doctor see whether a tumor is present.
These pictures can be made in several ways:. A CT scan uses an x-ray machine linked to a computer to take a series of pictures of your organs from different angles. These pictures are used to create detailed 3-D images of the inside of your body. Sometimes, you may receive a dye or other contrast material before you have the scan. You might swallow the dye, or it may be given by a needle into a vein. Contrast material helps make the pictures easier to read by highlighting certain areas in the body.
During the CT scan, you will lie still on a table that slides into a donut-shaped scanner. The CT machine moves around you, taking pictures. Learn more about CT scans and how they are used to diagnose cancer. An MRI uses a powerful magnet and radio waves to take pictures of your body in slices.
These slices are used to create detailed images of the inside of your body, which can show the difference between healthy and unhealthy tissue. When you have an MRI, you lie still on a table that is pushed into a long, round chamber.
The MRI machine makes loud thumping noises and rhythmic beats. Sometimes, you might have a special dye injected into your vein before or during your MRI exam. This dye, called a contrast agent, can make tumors show up brighter in the pictures. A nuclear scan uses radioactive material to take pictures of the inside of the body.
This type of scan may also be called radionuclide scan. Before this scan, you receive an injection of a small amount of radioactive material, which is sometimes called a tracer. It flows through your bloodstream and collects in certain bones or organs. During the scan, you lie still on a table while a machine called a scanner detects and measures the radioactivity in your body, creating pictures of bones or organs on a computer screen or on film.
After the scan, the radioactive material in your body will lose its radioactivity over time. It may also leave your body through your urine or stool. Bone scans are a type of nuclear scan that check for abnormal areas or damage in the bones. They may be used to diagnose bone cancer or cancer that has spread to the bones also called metastatic bone tumors. Before this test, a very small amount of radioactive material is injected into your vein.
As it travels through the blood, the material collects in abnormal areas in the bone. Areas where the material collects show up on pictures taken by a special scanner. A PET scan is a type of nuclear scan that makes detailed 3-D pictures of areas inside your body where glucose is taken up.
Because cancer cells often take up more glucose than healthy cells, the pictures can be used to find cancer in the body.
Before the scan, you receive an injection of a tracer called radioactive glucose. During the scan, you will lie still on a table that moves back and forth through a scanner. An ultrasound exam uses high-energy sound waves that people cannot hear.
The sound waves echo off tissues inside your body. A computer uses these echoes to create pictures of areas inside your body. This picture is called a sonogram. During an ultrasound exam, you will lie on a table while a tech slowly moves a device called a transducer on the skin over the part of the body that is being examined.
The transducer is covered with a warm gel that makes it easier to glide over the skin. Diagnostic radiology has greatly advanced in recent years with the development of new instruments and techniques that can better detect cancer and also help patients avoid surgery. The diagnostic radiology staff and physicians at the Stanford Cancer Center are leaders in their field and have access to the most advanced technology available today for imaging of cancer.
In fact, the expertise of our doctors is so well recognized that we proudly serve as a reference center, meaning that outside physicians can send our staff complex or borderline images and receive expert interpretation for their patients. In addition to advanced instruments and experienced staff, the Cancer Center was designed to improve the delivery of diagnostic radiology.
For example, we have consolidated imaging workstations for mammograms, ultrasounds, and magnetic resonance images in one room, allowing physicians to directly compare images from multiple sources.
Imaging is the process of producing valuable pictures of body structures and organs. It is used to detect tumors and other abnormalities, to determine the extent of disease, and to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. Imaging may also be used when performing biopsies and other surgical procedures. There are three types of imaging used for diagnosing cancer: transmission imaging, reflection imaging, and emission imaging.
Each uses a different process. X-rays, computed tomography scans CT scans , and fluoroscopy are radiological examinations whose images are produced by transmission.
In transmission imaging, a beam of high-energy photons is produced and passed through the body structure being examined. The beam passes very quickly through less dense types of tissue such as watery secretions, blood, and fat, leaving a darkened area on the X-ray film. Muscle and connective tissues ligaments, tendons, and cartilage appear gray. Bones will appear white. Reflection imaging refers to the type of imaging produced by sending high-frequency sounds to the body part or organ being studied.
These sound waves "bounce" off of the various types of body tissues and structures at varying speeds, depending on the density of the tissues present. The bounced sound waves are sent to a computer that analyzes the sound waves and produces a visual image of the body part or structure.
Emission imaging occurs when tiny nuclear particles or magnetic energy are detected by a scanner and analyzed by computer to produce an image of the body structure or organ being examined.
Nuclear medicine uses emission of nuclear particles from nuclear substances introduced into the body specifically for the examination. Magnetic resonance imaging MRI uses radio waves with a machine that creates a strong magnetic field that in turn causes cells to emit their own radio frequencies.
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