Cancer is considered to be a family of diseases that share a common set of characteristics such as reprogrammed energy metabolism, uncontrolled cell growth, tumor angiogenesis, and avoidance of immune destruction, referred to as cancer hallmarks. Cancer is one of the highest researched diseases and cancer prevention is becoming understood and accepted as a shared responsibility.

A cancer marker is anything found or produced by cancer cells or other cells in the body in response to cancer or certain benign (non-cancerous) conditions that provides information about a cancer. This information include what type of treatment it can respond to, or if it is responding to treatment, or how aggressive it is. Cancer markers are traditionally proteins or other substances manufactured in greater quantities by cancerous cells than normal cells. These can be found in the blood, urine, stool, tumors, or other tissues or body fluids of some patients with cancer.

The cancer marker can be categorized according to its function, how it is detected, or the type of sample in which it is measured:

--Oncofetal antigens

--Tumor associated antigens

--Hormones & hormone receptors

--Enzymes & iso-enzymes

--Serums & tissue proteins

--Cancer stem cells

--Other tumor markers 

Tumor antigen is an antigen substance produced in tumor cells, that is to say it triggers an immune response in the host. Tumor antigens are useful tumor markers for identifying tumor cells through diagnostic tests and are potential candidates for use in cancer treatment. The modern classification of tumor antigens is based on their molecular structure and source:

--Products of mutated oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes

--Other mutated genetic products

--Overexpressed or aberrant cellular proteins

--Tumour antigens produced by oncogene viruses

--Oncofetal Antigens

--Alteration of cellular surface glycolipid and glycoprotein

--Cell-specific differentiation antigens

Tumor antigens, due to their relative abundance in tumor cells, are helpful in the identification of specific tumor cells. Alpha Lifetech Inc. offers ELISA Kits for the detection of tumor markers, tumor-associated antigens, oncoproteins and more in support of diverse cancer research needs. We provide ready-to-use reagents and guarantee that each kit goes through validation and stability testing to ensure precision, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility. In addition, we can offer customized services for your special requirements. Please feel free to contact us to get the technical information and quotation!