Same Day Appointments
Usually available across all ten clinics, in clinic or by video.
Cancer Symptoms and Investigation
An honest account of what tumour marker blood tests can and cannot do.
Tumour markers are not a cancer screening test. They are used to monitor a known cancer, and in people without symptoms they generate false alarms far more often than they find anything. If you have symptoms, the right answer is an assessment and the right scan, not a marker panel.
- Same Day Assessment
- The Right Investigation
- Urgent Referral Arranged
- Honest Advice
- CQC registered
- GMC-registered
Book your TUMOUR MARKER TEST
We want to be direct with you, because this is a subject where the wrong information costs lives.
There is no blood test that checks you for cancer. Tumour markers like CA125 and CEA exist, and they have real uses, but screening healthy people is not one of them. They are raised by many harmless conditions, and they are normal in a substantial proportion of people who do have cancer. The dangerous half of that is the second one: a normal result can reassure someone who should have been investigated, and that delay is exactly what you do not want.
What genuinely helps, in order:
- If you have symptoms that worry you, be assessed properly and quickly. That means a doctor examining you, choosing the right investigation, and referring urgently where indicated. We can do that today.
- Use the NHS screening programmes you are eligible for. Bowel, breast and cervical screening are the interventions with strong evidence behind them, they reduce deaths, and they are free.
- Where a specific concern warrants a specific test, have that test, chosen for the question.
What we will not do is sell you a tumour marker panel as a cancer check. If you came here looking for one, we would rather explain why than take your money.
Why Patient Choose TUMOUR MARKER TEST SERVICE
- Same day appointments for symptoms that are worrying you.
- A proper examination, not a test sold off a list.
- Imaging referral arranged quickly where indicated.
- Urgent specialist referral where your symptoms meet the criteria.
- Blood tests where they genuinely inform the question, including full blood count, inflammatory markers, liver and kidney function.
- Honest advice about which tests help and which do not.
- NHS screening explained and signposted.
- Named private hospital partners for onward care, confirmed in Manchester.
- Findings shared with your NHS GP on request, with your consent.
How quickly you can be seen
Urgent Symptoms
Some symptoms warrant assessment within days rather than at your convenience. Call us and describe them rather than booking the next free slot, and we will prioritise appropriately. See the section below.
If Symptoms Are Severe or Rapidly Worsening
Go to A and E or call 111. Do not wait for a private appointment.
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, Saturday 9am - 2pm.
How To Book TUMOUR MARKER TEST
Step 1
Book an Appointment
Same day usually. Tell us your symptoms when you call so we can prioritise.
Step 2
History and Examination
What has changed, how long, and a physical examination. This is what determines everything else.
Step 3
Targeted Investigation
The tests and imaging that answer your specific question are arranged quickly.
Step 4
Referral Where Needed
Urgent specialist referral where your symptoms warrant it, with your results included.
Why choose Private Medical Clinic for TUMOUR MARKER TEST
- CQC registered provider, with documented clinical governance.
- Symptoms assessed by a GMC registered doctor, examined properly.
- Investigations chosen for the question rather than sold as a package.
- Fast access to imaging and specialist opinion.
- Honest about what blood tests can and cannot tell you.
- NHS screening programmes explained and encouraged.
- Named private hospital partners for onward specialist care.
- Ten clinics across the UK plus video appointments.
- Findings shared with your NHS GP on request.
Meet our Clinicians
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Symptoms that need assessing, and How Urgently
- Any new lump, anywhere, particularly if it is hard, fixed or growing.
- Unexplained weight loss without trying.
- A change in bowel habit lasting more than a few weeks, or blood in your stool.
- Blood in your urine.
- Coughing up blood, or a cough lasting more than three weeks.
- Difficulty swallowing, or food sticking.
- Persistent indigestion or abdominal pain that is new and not settling.
- Postmenopausal bleeding, bleeding between periods, or bleeding after sex.
- Persistent bloating, particularly with pelvic pain or feeling full quickly, in women.
- A mole that has changed in size, shape, colour or behaviour, or is bleeding or itching.
- A breast change: a lump, skin change, nipple discharge or nipple inversion.
- Unexplained night sweats or persistent fever.
- Unexplained persistent fatigue with any of the above.
- Persistent hoarseness, or a mouth ulcer lasting over three weeks.
Tumour markers, and WHAT THEY CAN HONESTLY DO
Tumour markers are substances, usually proteins, that can be raised in the presence of certain cancers. They are measured in blood. They are not cancer detectors, and understanding why is worth two minutes.
Their two failures both matter:
- They are raised by benign conditions. CA125 rises with endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammation, liver disease, heart failure, pregnancy and menstruation. So a raised result in a well woman usually means something benign, and finding out means scans and worry.
- They are normal in many people who do have cancer. A normal CA125 does not exclude ovarian cancer. This is the harm that matters most, because a reassuring number can delay someone presenting with symptoms that need investigating.
The evidence on screening is unusually clear. UKCTOCS followed over 200,000 women for years and found that screening with CA125 and ultrasound did not reduce deaths from ovarian cancer. That is why the UK has no ovarian cancer screening programme, and why offering CA125 as a check to a woman without symptoms is not supported.
Where tumour markers are legitimately used:
- Monitoring a known cancer during and after treatment, tracking response and recurrence. This is their main proper role.
- Investigating specific symptoms, alongside examination and imaging. In a woman with persistent bloating and pelvic symptoms, CA125 plus an ultrasound is part of a recognised pathway. The symptoms drive the test, not the reverse.
- Defined high-risk groups under specialist care, for example those with a BRCA mutation, where surveillance is specialist-led.
What actually reduces cancer deaths: the national screening programmes. Bowel screening by FIT kit, offered to a broad age range and highly effective. Breast screening by mammogram. Cervical screening by HPV testing. Lung screening now rolling out for people with a significant smoking history. These have evidence behind them, and they are free. If you are eligible and have not done yours, that is worth far more than any private blood test on this page.
And: prompt assessment of symptoms. Almost all delay-related harm in cancer comes from people not being seen quickly enough after symptoms appear. That is the thing this clinic can genuinely help with.
PRIVATE VS NHS TUMOUR MARKER TEST
| Cancer | NHS GP | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed of first appointment | Same day | Depends on practice, though urgent symptoms should be seen quickly |
| Urgent suspected cancer referral | We can refer privately, or advise the NHS route | Two week wait pathway, and it works |
| Imaging | Arranged quickly, chargeable | Within the pathway |
| Screening programmes | Not applicable | Free, evidence based, and the thing that actually reduces deaths |
| Cancer treatment | Not provided | Comprehensive |
| Cost | £95 plus investigations | Free |
If your symptoms suggest possible cancer, the NHS urgent suspected cancer pathway is fast, free and effective, and your GP can refer you into it with a two week target. If you cannot get a GP appointment quickly, we can see you today and refer you. But do not let cost stop you being assessed: if paying privately is difficult, go to your NHS GP and say you are worried about cancer. They will take it seriously.
Tumour Marker Test FAQs
No. Tumour markers exist but are not screening tests. They are raised by benign conditions and normal in many people who do have cancer.
Useful for monitoring known ovarian cancer and for investigating specific symptoms alongside imaging. Not useful for screening, and the largest trial ever conducted found that screening did not reduce deaths.
Be assessed properly and quickly. Book here today, or see your NHS GP and say you are worried about cancer. Do not wait.
They are in development and being trialled, including within the NHS. They are not yet established practice and we do not offer them. Be cautious of anyone selling them as proven.
Bowel, breast, and cervical screening as you become eligible, and lung screening if you have a significant smoking history. All free, all evidence-based.
Worth a proper discussion, since some patterns warrant genetic assessment and earlier or additional surveillance, which is specialist-led. Book an appointment.
Because people are frightened and will pay for reassurance. We do not think that is defensible, and we would rather explain than sell.
No, and this is the important one. A normal result can be falsely reassuring and delay proper assessment.
Ones matched to your symptoms: a full blood count, inflammatory markers, FIT for bowel symptoms, and imaging. Chosen for the question rather than bought as a panel.
Whole-body screening scans in people without symptoms frequently find harmless abnormalities leading to further tests and anxiety, and UK guidance does not support them as routine screening.
Yes, and we will if your symptoms warrant it. The NHS two-week wait pathway is also fast and free.
No. We assess, investigate and refer.
Ready to book your TUMOUR MARKER TEST?
Book a same day appointment. A proper examination, the right investigation, and urgent referral if you need it. If cost is a barrier, see your NHS GP today and say you are worried about cancer.