Discovery of Tumor Markers

This chapter discusses about the diagnosis of cancer, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis in cancer as well as the importance of tumor markers that help in the diagnosis of cancer. This chapter also focuses on the main tumor markers used in the clinic and their importance in diagnosing the type of cancer in which they are used. Some of the markers are CEA, PSA, PAP, HER-2, BTA, telomerase, K-ras, CA 15.3, CA 19.9, CA 72.4, CA 125, NMP 22, p53, AFP, and β-hCG. This chapter also discusses about cancer staging, the criteria adopted by the TNM system to obtain a correct staging, and its importance as a parameter in defining cancer therapy.