Cancer Markers (Female)

No blood test can do that on its own. Tumour markers can be normal when cancer is present and raised when it is not, so a result is never a diagnosis. Their strength is tracking a known condition over time and adding context that your doctor reads with your symptoms, examination and imaging.

It does not. Mammography, cervical screening and colonoscopy are the tests proven to find cancers early, and this panel is designed to sit beside them. Keep to the screening schedule your doctor sets, and treat these markers as additional information rather than a substitute.

Plenty of benign things. Endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease, recent abdominal surgery, menstruation, pregnancy and liver disease can all lift CA-125. That is why it is not used as a stand-alone screen in women without symptoms, and why your doctor reads it in context.

Total beta hCG is a tumour marker as well as a pregnancy hormone: it rises in certain germ-cell and placental tumours. Far more commonly, it rises in an ordinary pregnancy. Tell the phlebotomist if you are or could be pregnant, so the result is read the right way.

Women over 40 who want tumour-marker levels on record alongside routine screening, anyone with breast, ovarian or bowel cancer in close relatives, and patients monitoring an existing diagnosis on their doctor's advice. If you have new or persistent symptoms, see a doctor rather than starting with a blood test.

Blood in stool that is invisible to the eye, which can come from a bowel polyp or tumour. It is not specific: haemorrhoids, a fissure, an ulcer or recent anti-inflammatory tablets can all turn it positive. A positive result is a reason to discuss a colonoscopy, which is what actually inspects the bowel.

Small elevations are common and often mean nothing. The usual step is to repeat that marker after a few weeks, because a stable value reassures far more than a single reading and a rising trend is what prompts imaging. Do not act on the number before your doctor has seen it with your history.

Once a year is enough for most people using it as a baseline alongside their regular screening. If your doctor is following a particular marker for a condition you already have, they will set a shorter interval: trends matter far more here than any single value.

No. None of the tumour markers, the full blood count or the faecal occult blood test requires fasting, so book whichever slot suits you. Eat and drink normally, and carry on with your usual medicines unless your doctor has told you otherwise.

The panel is AED 499, covering 28 biomarkers, free home blood collection anywhere in Dubai seven days a week and a physician-reviewed Smart Report within 48 hours. If you would like help deciding whether it is the right choice, our care team can advise via contact.