A complex disease, cancer can also be complicated to diagnose. It's not as simple as a quick blood test, but includes a variety of factors and types of evaluation; a health provider needs to take a person's history and run tests, including those to determine whether another condition is mimicking the symptoms of cancer.
And then, within each type of diagnosis method there are variations.
Here then is a brief overview of those methods from Stanford Health Care:
* Lab Tests
– These include blood or urine tests, a complete blood count (CBC), and tumor markers
* Diagnostic Imaging
– This includes, pictures' like those taken for mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRIs. The types of imaging include transmission imaging (X-rays, CT scans, etc); reflection imaging, which uses sound waves (mammograms, for example); and emission imaging, which uses tiny nuclear particles or magnetic energy (MRIs).
* Endoscopic exams
– This category includes colonoscopy, cystoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and others.
* Genetic Tests
– These test for mutations in genes that give an increased risk for cancer.
* Tumor Biopsies
– Biopsy is when tissue or cells are removed and examined under a microscope. Some require sedation while others don't, and some can be done in a physician's office while others need to be performed in a hospital.