ABSTRACT
Tumor markers are substances produced by the tumor itself or by the body in the presence of a malignant tumor. They are not specific to the neoplastic disease and may be elevated in benign pathologies or physiological conditions. Most tumor markers do not rise in the initial stages of the disease, so, except for a few exceptions, they are not a useful screening method. The determination of tumor markers can guide and support the diagnosis and is often crucial for disease monitoring, early detection of relapses, and efficacy assessment of the treatments administered, in many cases being a survival prognostic marker. The value of tumor markers at diagnosis should not be considered in isolation; altered results mandate the carrying out of supplementary tests confirming the assumed diagnosis. In recent years, thanks to a wider knowledge of the genetic and molecular biology of cancer, new biomarkers with significant diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive response values to new therapies have been identified, which have enabled improvement of the treatments administered and change in the paradigm of the oncological disease, making way for so-called “personalized medicine in cancer.”
