What's new in tumor markers and their measurements?

Clinical interest and usefulness of the various marker determinations in staging, detection, prognosis, and monitoring of therapy in patients with tumors of different organ systems is discussed. It is stated that there is an urgent need for markers that can be used in early stage cancers, since neither the classical nor the new markers are sensitive or specific enough to be used for screening purposes or the detection of incipient malignancies. Despite having experienced frustrating limitations with the circulating markers these substances became of great interest as target antigens in histopathology and immunescintigraphy. These new applications of the tumor markers are also reviewed.