Do tumor markers exceeding the standard must be cancer?

Excessive tumor markers are not cancer because:

1. The relationship between tumor markers and tumors is not one-to-one. For now, detection of tumor markers does not equate to cancer. The ideal tumor markers required clinically should have 100% sensitivity and specificity for tumor detection, but in fact, no tumor markers with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity have been found so far.

2. Regarding the problem of false positives, in layman's terms, just detecting that you have a tumor does not mean that you really have a tumor. In fact, the increase of tumor markers is not only related to the occurrence of tumors, but also various parts, such as inflammation, infection, polyps, inflammatory hyperplasia, liver and kidney dysfunction, etc. , and even some foods and drugs, can lead to an increase in the concentration of some tumor markers, that is, "false positive" performance.

3. It is necessary to understand how the reference value range of tumor markers is determined: the reference value range of tumor markers is determined by the mean ± 1.96 times the standard deviation of the measured value of a certain indicator in the normal population. That is to say, the reference value range of tumor markers does not include the measurement value of all normal people, but only includes the measurement value of 95% of normal people, and the measurement value of a certain indicator of 5% of normal people. The result may be referenced. outside the value range. The indicators of some middle-aged and elderly people are slightly higher than the reference value.