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It’s pretty easy. If blood test says “liver cancer positive. Colon cancer negative.” you check the liver for cancer. No need to check the colon for cancer. No n
by plank_time 5y ago
It’s pretty easy. If blood test says “liver cancer positive. Colon cancer negative.” you check the liver for cancer. No need to check the colon for cancer. No need to scan the entire body for lumps.
- graeme 5y agoNot that easy. “Check the liver for cancer” has lots of risks: surgery and the resulting tissue injury. I’m generally inclined towards the position of more testing....but there are very real tradeoffs to any of the interventions that a blood test could prompt.
- jghn 5y agoAlso, you might have identified liver cancer that came from the patient's kidney. Or a colorectal cancer that came from the patient's liver.
- colinmhayes 5y agoWhat happens when it turns out that most of the people having surgery don't have cancer? Because that's the reality of tests with a .5% false positive rate if less than 1% of the population is positive.