. 2022 Oct 18;73(727):e95–e103. doi: 10.3399/BJGP.2022.0265

Table 3.

Table showing frequency of blood test use by cancer site^a

Cancer	Common blood tests								Inflammatory markers		Less generic tests/tests with greater affinity to specific disease processes
	Any 1 of the 3 common blood tests		FBC		U&E		LFT		Inflammatory markers		Cancer biomarkers,^b use in males		Cancer biomarkers,^b use in females		Serum protein		Ferritin		Bone profile		Amylase
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Leukaemia (n= 661)	552	84	543	82	370	56	340	51	216	33	39	6	5	1	46	7	115	17	117	18	9	1
Multiple myeloma (n= 599)	455	76	439	73	387	65	345	58	295	49	62	10	29	5	320	53	129	22	217	36	9	2
Pancreas (n= 1165)	826	71	790	68	763	65	773	66	488	42	89	8	110	9	45	4	224	19	239	21	194	17
Liver (n= 471)	331	70	289	61	273	58	301	64	172	37	32	7	31	7	28	6	88	19	91	19	37	8
Colon (n= 2991)	2093	70	2075	69	1751	59	1608	54	980	33	192	6	208	7	76	3	1029	34	450	15	98	3
Stomach (n= 727)	448	62	444	61	388	53	371	51	205	28	45	6	23	3	16	2	207	28	121	17	36	5
Rectum (n= 1261)	764	61	751	60	677	54	621	49	361	29	94	7	58	5	22	2	325	26	141	11	21	2
Unknown primary (n= 629)	368	59	349	55	327	52	317	50	228	36	45	7	61	10	29	5	92	15	110	17	34	5
Ovary (n= 874)	482	55	476	54	439	50	393	45	258	30	0	0	408	47	14	2	121	14	128	15	33	4
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n= 1545)	852	55	842	54	727	47	666	43	534	35	83	5	60	4	147	10	230	15	288	19	47	3
Kidney (n= 969)	477	49	448	46	432	45	358	37	230	24	112	12	26	3	30	3	125	13	120	12	22	2
Oesophagus (n= 1074)	504	47	496	46	456	42	422	39	230	21	36	3	18	2	19	2	190	18	125	12	37	3
Prostate (n= 7499)	3518	47	3025	40	3332	44	2337	31	1002	13	6420	86	1	<1	160	2	374	5	896	12	36	<1
Other (n= 2184)	1004	46	967	44	845	39	764	35	478	22	121	6	100	5	83	4	240	11	266	12	70	3
Bladder (n= 1112)	481	43	441	40	458	41	271	24	137	12	247	22	11	1	13	1	76	7	88	8	7	1
Lung (n= 4430)	1785	40	1720	39	1624	37	1420	32	1020	23	142	3	93	2	121	3	399	9	580	13	46	1
Thyroid (n= 467)	179	38	175	37	153	33	124	27	81	17	2	<1	7	1	4	1	21	4	37	8	0	0
Oropharynx (n= 523)	145	28	143	27	127	24	103	20	105	20	6	1	1	<1	8	2	21	4	32	6	0	0
Uterus (n= 1266)	318	25	311	25	261	21	222	18	120	9	0	0	146	12	12	1	106	8	69	5	6	<1
Breast (n= 4919)	209	4	192	4	195	4	159	3	98	2	2	<1	26	1	15	<1	42	1	76	2	8	<1
Melanoma (n= 2297)	55	2	53	2	49	2	36	2	25	1	2	<1	1	1	3	<1	11	<1	12	1	0	0
All other cancers (n= 2089)^c	581	28	571	27	521	25	463	22	335	16	57	3	38	2	29	1	134	6	164	8	11	1
All patients (n= 39 752)	16 427	41	15 540	39	14 555	37	12 414	31	7598	19	7828	20	1461	4	1240	3	4299	11	4367	11	761	2

The boundaries for green–yellow–red are set at the upper, median, and lower values for each blood test. All other values are coloured proportionally.

Cancer biomarkers are stratified by sex and include PSA, CEA, CA125, CA19.9, and other (unspecified).

Cancer sites with <397 patients (that is, <1% of study population) were grouped together, including Hodgkin lymphoma, mesothelioma, brain, cervical, larynx, oral cavity, testicular, and vulval cancers. CA125 = cancer antigen 125. CA19.9 = cancer antigen 19-9. CEA = carcinoembryonic antigen. FBC = full blood count. U&E = urea and electrolytes. LFT = liver function test. PSA = prostate-specific antigen.