Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Español

Tumor Markers in Common Use

A tumor marker is anything present in or produced by cancer cells or other cells of the body in response to cancer or certain benign (noncancerous) conditions that provides information about a cancer, such as how aggressive it is, whether it can be treated with a targeted therapy, or whether it is responding to treatment. See the Tumor Markers fact sheet for more information.

Listed below are tumor markers that are in common use, mainly to determine treatment or to help make a diagnosis of cancer. New tumor markers frequently become available and may not be reflected on this list.

This list does not include the many tumor markers that are tested by immunophenotyping and immunohistochemistry to help diagnose cancer and to distinguish between different types of cancer. Some tumor markers listed below are targets for targeted therapy in multiple cancers but serve as tumor markers for only a subset of cancers.

ALK gene rearrangements and overexpression

Cancer types or cancer-like conditions: Non-small cell lung cancer, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, histiocytoses
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment and prognosis

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)

Cancer types: Liver cancer and germ cell tumors
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help diagnose liver cancer and follow response to treatment; to assess stage, prognosis, and response to treatment of germ cell tumors

B-cell immunoglobulin gene rearrangement

Cancer type: B-cell lymphoma
What's analyzed: Blood, bone marrow, or tumor tissue
How used: To help in diagnosis, to evaluate effectiveness of treatment, and to check for recurrence

BCL2 gene rearrangement

Cancer types: Lymphomas, leukemias
What’s analyzed: Blood, bone marrow, or tumor tissue
How used: For diagnosis and planning therapy

Beta-2-microglobulin (B2M)

Cancer types: Multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and some lymphomas
What's analyzed: Blood, urine, or cerebrospinal fluid
How used: To determine prognosis and follow response to treatment

Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (Beta-hCG)

Cancer types: Choriocarcinoma and germ cell tumors
What's analyzed: Urine or blood
How used: To assess stage, prognosis, and response to treatment

Bladder Tumor Antigen (BTA)

Cancer types: Bladder cancer and cancer of the kidney or ureter
What's analyzed: Urine
How used: As surveillance with cytology and cystoscopy of patients already known to have bladder cancer

BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations

Cancer types: Ovarian and breast cancers
What's analyzed: Blood and/or tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

BCR-ABL fusion gene (Philadelphia chromosome)

Cancer types: Chronic myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and acute myelogenous leukemia
What's analyzed: Blood or bone marrow
How used: To confirm diagnosis, predict response to targeted therapy, help determine treatment, and monitor disease status

BRAF V600 mutations

Cancer types or cancer-like conditions: Cutaneous melanoma, Erdheim-Chester disease, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, colorectal cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

C-kit/CD117

Cancer types: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor, mucosal melanoma, acute myeloid leukemia, and mast cell disease
What's analyzed: Tumor, blood, or bone marrow
How used: To help in diagnosis and to help determine treatment 

CA15-3/CA27.29

Cancer type: Breast cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To assess whether treatment is working or if the cancer has recurred

CA19-9

Cancer types: Pancreatic, gallbladder, bile duct, and gastric cancers
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To assess whether treatment is working

CA-125

Cancer type: Ovarian cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in diagnosis, assessment of response to treatment, and evaluation of recurrence

CA 27.29

Cancer type: Breast cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To detect metastasis or recurrence

Calcitonin

Cancer type: Medullary thyroid cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To aid in diagnosis, check whether treatment is working, and assess recurrence

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)

Cancer types: Colorectal cancer and some other cancers
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To keep track of how well cancer treatments are working and check if cancer has come back or spread

CD19

Cancer types: B-cell lymphomas and leukemias 
What's analyzed: Blood and bone marrow
How used: To help in diagnosis and to help determine treatment 

CD20

Cancer type: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help determine treatment

CD22

Cancer types: B-cell lymphomas and leukemias 
What's analyzed: Blood and bone marrow
How used: To help in diagnosis and to help determine treatment 

CD25

Cancer type: Non-Hodgkin (T-cell) lymphoma
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help determine treatment

CD30

Cancer types: Classic Hodgkin lymphoma, B-cell and T-cell lymphomas 
What's analyzed:
Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

CD33

Cancer type: Acute myeloid leukemia
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help determine treatment

Chromogranin A (CgA)

Cancer type: Neuroendocrine tumors
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in diagnosis, assessment of treatment response, and evaluation of recurrence

Chromosome 17p deletion

Cancer type: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help determine treatment

Chromosomes 3, 7, 17, and 9p21

Cancer type: Bladder cancer
What's analyzed: Urine
How used: To help in monitoring for tumor recurrence

Circulating tumor cells of epithelial origin (CELLSEARCH)

Cancer types: Metastatic breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To inform clinical decision making, and to assess prognosis

Cytokeratin fragment 21-1

Cancer type: Lung cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in monitoring for recurrence

Cyclin D1 (CCND1) gene rearrangement or expression

Cancer types: Lymphoma, myeloma
What’s analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help in diagnosis

Des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP)

Cancer type: Hepatocellular carcinoma
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To monitor the effectiveness of treatment and to detect recurrence

DPD gene mutation

Cancer types: Breast, colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To predict the risk of a toxic reaction to 5-fluorouracil therapy

EGFR gene mutation

Cancer type: Non-small cell lung cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment and prognosis

Estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR)

Cancer type: Breast cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

FGFR2 and FGFR3 gene mutations

Cancer type: Bladder cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

Fibrin/fibrinogen

Cancer type: Bladder cancer
What's analyzed: Urine
How used: To monitor progression and response to treatment

FLT3 gene mutations

Cancer type: Acute myeloid leukemia
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help determine treatment

Gastrin

Cancer type: Gastrin-producing tumor (gastrinoma)
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in diagnosis, to monitor the effectiveness of treatment, and to detect recurrence

HE4

Cancer type: Ovarian cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To plan cancer treatment, assess disease progression, and monitor for recurrence

HER2/neu gene amplification or protein overexpression

Cancer types: Breast, ovarian, bladder, pancreatic, and stomach cancers
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

5-HIAA

Cancer type: Carcinoid tumors
What's analyzed: Urine
How used: To help in diagnosis and to monitor disease

IDH1 and IDH2 gene mutations

Cancer type: Acute myeloid leukemia
What's analyzed: Bone marrow and blood
How used: To help determine treatment

Immunoglobulins

Cancer types: Multiple myeloma and Waldenström macroglobulinemia
What's analyzed: Blood and urine
How used: To help diagnose disease, assess response to treatment, and look for recurrence

IRF4 gene rearrangement

Cancer types: Lymphoma
What’s analyzed: Tumor 
How used: To help in diagnosis

JAK2 gene mutation

Cancer type: Certain types of leukemia
What's analyzed: Blood and bone marrow
How used: To help in diagnosis

KRAS gene mutation

Cancer types: Colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

Lactate dehydrogenase

Cancer types: Germ cell tumors, lymphoma, leukemia, melanoma, and neuroblastoma
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To assess stage, prognosis, and response to treatment

Microsatellite instability (MSI) and/or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) 

Cancer types: Colorectal cancer and other solid tumors
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To guide treatment and to identify those at high risk of certain cancer-predisposing syndromes

MYC gene expression

Cancer types: Lymphomas, leukemias
What’s analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help in diagnosis and to help determine treatment

MYD88 gene mutation

Cancer types: Lymphoma, Waldenström macroglobulinemia
What’s analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help in diagnosis and to help determine treatment

Myeloperoxidase (MPO)

Cancer type: Leukemia
What’s analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in diagnosis

Neuron-specific enolase (NSE)

Cancer types: Small cell lung cancer and neuroblastoma
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in diagnosis and to assess response to treatment

NTRK gene fusion

Cancer type: Any solid tumor
What’s analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

Nuclear matrix protein 22

Cancer type: Bladder cancer
What's analyzed: Urine
How used: To monitor response to treatment

PCA3 mRNA

Cancer type: Prostate cancer
What's analyzed: Urine (collected after digital rectal exam)
How used: To determine need for repeat biopsy after negative biopsy

PML/RARα fusion gene

Cancer type: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)
What's analyzed: Blood and bone marrow
How used: To diagnose APL, to predict response to all-trans-retinoic acid or arsenic trioxide therapy, to assess effectiveness of therapy, to monitor minimal residual disease, and to predict early relapse

Prostatic Acid Phosphatase (PAP)

Cancer type: Metastatic prostate cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in diagnosing poorly differentiated carcinomas

Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)

Cancer types: Non-small cell lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, classical Hodgkin lymphoma, and other aggressive lymphoma subtypes
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)

Cancer type: Prostate cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To help in diagnosis, to assess response to treatment, and to look for recurrence

ROS1 gene rearrangement

Cancer type: Non-small cell lung cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To help determine treatment

Soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP)

Cancer type: Mesothelioma
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To monitor progression or recurrence

Somatostatin receptor

Cancer type: Neuroendocrine tumors affecting the pancreas or gastrointestinal tract (GEP-NETs)
What's analyzed: Tumor (by diagnostic imaging)
How used: To help determine treatment

T-cell receptor gene rearrangement

Cancer type: T-cell lymphoma
What's analyzed: Bone marrow, tissue, body fluid, blood
How used: To help in diagnosis; sometimes to detect and evaluate residual disease

Terminal transferase (TdT)

Cancer types: Leukemia, lymphoma
What’s analyzed: Tumor, blood
How used: To help in diagnosis

Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) enzyme activity or TPMT genetic test

Cancer type: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
What's analyzed: Blood and buccal (cheek) swab
How used: To predict the risk of severe bone marrow toxicity (myelosuppression) with thiopurine treatment

Thyroglobulin

Cancer type: Thyroid cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To evaluate response to treatment and to look for recurrence

UGT1A1*28 variant homozygosity

Cancer type: Colorectal cancer
What's analyzed: Blood and buccal (cheek) swab
How used: To predict toxicity from irinotecan therapy

Urine catecholamines: VMA and HVA

Cancer type: Neuroblastoma
What's analyzed: Urine
How used: To help in diagnosis 

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1)

Cancer type: Breast cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To determine aggressiveness of cancer and guide treatment

FoundationOne CDx (F1CDx) genomic test

Cancer type: Any solid tumor
What's analyzed: Tumor, blood
How used: As a companion diagnostic test to determine treatment 

Guardant360 CDx genomic test

Cancer type: Any solid tumor
What’s analyzed: Blood
How used: As a companion diagnostic test to determine treatment and for general tumor mutation profiling

5-Protein signature (OVA1)

Cancer type: Ovarian cancer
What's analyzed: Blood
How used: To pre-operatively assess pelvic mass for suspected ovarian cancer

17-Gene signature (Oncotype DX GPS test)

Cancer type: Prostate cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To predict the aggressiveness of prostate cancer and to help manage treatment

21-Gene signature (Oncotype DX)

Cancer type: Breast cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To evaluate risk of distant recurrence and to help plan treatment

46-Gene signature (Prolaris)

Cancer type: Prostate cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To predict the aggressiveness of prostate cancer and to help manage treatment

70-Gene signature (Mammaprint)

Cancer type: Breast cancer
What's analyzed: Tumor
How used: To evaluate risk of recurrence
 

 

 

  • Reviewed:

If you would like to reproduce some or all of this content, see Reuse of NCI Information for guidance about copyright and permissions. In the case of permitted digital reproduction, please credit the National Cancer Institute as the source and link to the original NCI product using the original product's title; e.g., “Tumor Markers in Common Use was originally published by the National Cancer Institute.”

Email