Cancer Assessments

Advancements in diagnostics used in cancer care are occurring almost constantly. These assessments can provide insight into the potential effectiveness of therapeutics both before and during treatment, the potential behaviour of a cancerous process and the presence of a disease recurrence. At MCNE we recommend and use the best labs all over the world for these assessments. Learn more below:

Tumour Markers

Tumour markers are substances (normally proteins) that are elevated in many cancer processes. They can be enzymes that are present either exclusively or in much higher levels in cancer tissue, or become elevated as a result of the invasive process. These markers can be useful for the assessment of treatment response, disease progression or evaluation of recurrence; however, they are not present in all patients and are not useful in all processes. While frequently measured they are not uniformly measured by conventional oncologists for all patients and so MCNE doctors will measure as needed.

Examples of tumour markers include:

Breast Cancer - CA 15-3
Colorectal Cancer - CEA
Liver Cancer/Testicular Cancer - AFP
Multiple Myeloma - Immunoglobulins
Ovarian Cancer - CA 125
Pancreatic Cancer - CA 19-9
Prostate Cancer - PSA

Circulating Tumour Cells

Tumour Cells have been found circulating freely in the blood of cancer patients. These cells provide a non-invasive opportunity to assess the tumour process in a variety of ways. MCNE uses two German labs for the assessment of circulating tumour cells (CTC). Here is an outline of the two methods of CTC assessment used at MCNE.

CTC Isolation and Genetic Characterization (Chemosensitivity and Resistance Analysis)

One method of analysis of CTC is through their careful isolation and then genetic characterization. This method first involves the isolation of tumour cells from a blood sample taken at our centre. These cells are then analyzed for over/under expression of various genes. The genes analyzed are important in the invasive behaviour of cancer cells. They are often targets for conventional and non-conventional therapies and results may indicate that certain therapies have a greater potential of effectiveness. Other genes analyzed are what are known as drug resistance genes and if these are over expressed in tumour cells it will indicate resistance to certain conventional and non conventional therapies.

This information is particularly important in patients who have already undergone chemotherapy as they are more likely to have CTC that display resistance to therapeutics. The results of this testing will help ensure that ineffective chemotherapy and non-conventional therapies are not undertaken thereby increasing the chance of therapeutic effectiveness.

For more information click here to visit the Biofocus Lab website.

Maintrac Method of CTC Analysis

With the Maintrac® method, the success of chemotherapy can be examined with regular tracking of the cancer cell numbers at intervals.

If the number of tumour cells in the blood drops significantly during chemotherapy, this shows that the chemotherapy is successful. A good response of CTC levels to chemotherapy corresponds with positive treatment outcomes.

However, should the number of cancer cells in the blood increase during the chemotherapy, then the chemotherapy is obviously not working sufficiently and there is a greater risk of the formation of metastases. In this case, there is the possibility of changing the cancer treatment to a more successful therapeutic regime.

For more information click here to visit the Laboratory Dr. Pachmann website.

Whole Body PET/CT Scan

Every cancer patient has diagnostic imaging performed to confirm the diagnosis, assist in disease staging, assess treatment response, and assess for recurrence. CT scans are the most common form of diagnostic imaging in cancer, but there are several limitations to this imaging modality. Some of these limitations include being able to determine whether smaller lesions on a scan represent a cancerous or benign process, more accurately determine the presence of distant metastasis not picked up by a simple CT, or how metabolically active a lesion may be which correlates with the aggressiveness.

At MCNE we frequently refer patients for PET testing where it may assist in determining the most effective treatment program to pursue.

For more information click here to visit KMH Labs website