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Module CC-25 · Version 1.0

Tumor Markers: What They Can and Cannot Tell You

Use tumor-marker results by purpose, serial pattern, and method context. Recognize why an abnormal result supports a clinical question but rarely establishes cancer.

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Who this module is for

Medical laboratory scientists and laboratory trainees who release or investigate circulating tumor-marker results.

Learning objectives

  • Differentiate screening, diagnosis support, prognosis, therapy selection, monitoring, and recurrence surveillance.
  • Recognize benign elevations, limited sensitivity or specificity, biological variability, and assay noninterchangeability.
  • Use serial results and method continuity appropriately, including a bounded response to suspected immunoassay interference.

How completion works

Mark every required section done and answer every knowledge check in those sections correctly. The final save completes the module automatically.

Sources

13 sources

  1. 1. National Cancer Institute. Tumor Markers fact sheet and Tumor Marker Tests in Common Use. NCI, cancer.gov.

    Source note · federal guidance

  2. 2. US Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for Prostate Cancer: Recommendation Statement. JAMA. 2018.

    Source note · professional society guidance

  3. 3. Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup. Definitions for Response and Progression in Ovarian Cancer Clinical Trials Incorporating RECIST 1.1 and CA 125.

    Source note · professional society guidance

  4. 4. Sturgeon CM et al. Hormone Immunoassay Interference: A 2021 Update. PMC8368230.

    Source note · peer-reviewed literature

  5. 5. FDA. Testing for Biotin Interference in In Vitro Diagnostic Devices. Guidance for Industry. October 2020.

    Source note · federal guidance

  6. 6. American Thyroid Association. 2025 ATA Management Guidelines for Adult Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.

    Source note · professional society guidance

  7. 7. American Society of Clinical Oncology. Follow-Up Care, Surveillance Protocol, and Secondary Prevention Measures for Survivors of Colorectal Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2013.

    Source note · professional society guidance

  8. 8. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. EP07: Interference Testing in Clinical Chemistry, 3rd ed. 2018.

    Source note · consensus standard

  9. 9. 42 CFR 493.1253 and 493.1291. CLIA performance specifications and test report requirements.

    Source note · federal regulation

  10. 10. American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Practice Guidance on Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. 2023.

    Source note · professional society guidance

  11. 11. Challenging Biliary Strictures and Elevated serum CA 19-9 in benign biliary stricture disease. PMC7298429 and PMC3992417.

    Source note · peer-reviewed literature

  12. 12. American Urological Association and Society of Urologic Oncology. Early Detection of Prostate Cancer Guideline. 2023.

    Source note · professional society guidance

  13. 13. National Cancer Institute. Stages of Testicular Cancer, AJCC serum tumor marker staging summary.

    Source note · federal guidance