When it comes to the treatment of GI cancer or gastrointestinal cancer, time is of the essence. If you are experiencing constant digestive problems without any explicable reason, you must not wait for long. Consult your trusted surgical gastroenterologist to find a solution to your problems.
One must remember that any problem with your digestive system does not confirm GI cancer. It simply shows that something is wrong with it. For an accurate diagnosis, your doctor may recommend a few diagnostic tests.
DIAGNOSTIC TESTS FOR GI CANCER: DIAGNOSE THE DISEASE ACCURATELY
When it comes to symptoms of stomach cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer, or any other type of GI cancer, people often consider them common digestive problems and ignore them. If your GI surgeon has recommended diagnostic tests for accurate decision-making, do not avoid them. Let us understand what kind of tests will make the diagnosis quick and your treatment effective.
1. BLOOD TESTS, INCLUDING TUMOR MARKER TESTS
Blood tests can help your doctor in making an accurate cancer diagnosis. It can give a clue to the doctor in understanding what’s going on with the body. The tests may show cells, proteins and other substances created by cancer in the body. Additionally, specific blood tests may be suggested to understand normal functioning of the organs and to detect possible anomalies. Let’s look at the list of blood tests that may be essential for you:
a. Complete Blood Count (CBC): It measures various cells in your blood sample.
b. Blood Protein Testing: It can detect certain abnormal immune system proteins that can be caused by different types of cancers.
c. Tumor Marker Tests: The tests help in diagnosing and detecting tumor cells/markers in the blood. Tumor markers can be found at elevated levels in the body with different types of cancer.
A doctor may suggest the tumor marker test to people with high risk of cancer. However, the test alone is not enough to diagnose GI cancer accurately. There are other tests required for confirmation of gastrointestinal cancer.
2. ULTRASOUND
The Ultrasound tests includes making use of high-frequency sound waves to manifest the insides of the patient’s body. The scan shows movement of the internal organs, such as the stomach, in real time. As the test doesn’t make use of X-rays or radiation, it is one of the safest tools to detect GI cancer. It helps in understanding how far the cancer has spread and whether it has affected nearby tissues as well.
3. CT (COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY) SCAN
Doctors may prescribe a CT scan or a CAT scan to find out more about the disease. CT scan includes usage of X-rays to get detailed and comprehensive images of the soft tissues of the organ in question. It shows the organ pretty clearly and can confirm the actual location of the cancer. It not only helps with diagnosis but also aids in determining the cancer stage. It will also help the GI surgeon in ascertaining the course of medical treatment.
4. MRI (MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING) SCAN
Similar to CT scans, MRI tests also show the soft tissues of the body and let the doctor know more about the spread of cancer. It means that the test is useful in diagnosis as well as staging the disease. In an MRI scan, the technician will make use of radio waves and magnets instead of X-rays to get a clear idea of the internal organs of the body.
5. PET (POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY) SCAN
In a few cases, the GI surgeon may suggest a PET scan to understand how the tissues in the GI tract are functioning. This includes using a radioactive tracer to understand the activity of the organs. The test gathers images of how the cells in the GI organs are working in the body. Usually, radioactive materials affect cancer cells more than normal cells. It will make the cancer cells appear brighter during the scan. The test is known to detect a problem even before it shows up on other types of imaging tests. It can also be used for cancer staging.
6. ENDOSCOPY AND BIOPSY
Upper endoscopy, Esophagogastroduodenoscopy or EGD is one of the essential tests for detecting stomach cancer and other cancers of GI tract. Your doctor may suggest the test if you have certain symptoms or you are at high risk of getting cancer. The test involves using an endoscope to check the esophagus, stomach and the beginning of the small intestine. On the other hand, ileocolonoscopy is an endoscopic scan of the ileum and the colon.
If the doctor finds any anomalies, biopsies are done to extract tissues from your body. The tissues are sent to the lab for further examination and checked for the existence of GI cancer.
It is possible that the GI cancer is deep within the digestive system and it makes biopsy with the help of endoscopy difficult. In such a situation, the surgical gastroenterologist may take help of endoscopic ultrasound to get a biopsy sample.
Early detection and accurate diagnosis are essential in saving your life. Some GI cancers show evident symptoms, but others may not manifest any signs for a very long time. So, visit a surgical gastroenterologist as soon as you find persistent problems with the GI tract. With diagnostic tests, your doctor will figure out the staging of cancer and suggest a future course of treatment.
