The diagnosis provides information on location, size and growth of a tumor.
Suspicion of cancer is often already covered by the patient described symptoms and physical examination. For the more advanced diagnostic methods are needed, however, (to exclude or confirm a suspected diagnosis) and detailed information about the tumor, eg exact location, size, growth rate or any connection to adjacent organs. It also aims to determine the extent to which the cancer affects the general health.

Lab:
Important information provides the blood in the laboratory. This already makes a pretty good "overall assessment", as statements in the body may allow running infections or coagulation disorders and on the state of the immune system and make the composition of the blood. So occurs in the course of various cancers commonly associated with anemia (anemia), as demonstrated on the basis of the so-called blood count. Specifically) for leukemia (blood cancer blood test is very meaningful and already makes conjectures as to the identity of the specific type of blood cancer it is. Nor can the blood of so-called tumor markers to determine, for example, the "prostate-specific antigen, PSA.

X-ray:
In some tumors, an x-ray examination is useful, for example, in lung tumors. The X-ray examination of the lungs is to search for "daughter of tumors (metastases) are very helpful, establishing themselves in many cancers in the lung. By means of special x-ray contrast agent can also represent well the digestive organs. For example, the patient asked for an investigation of the stomach, drink a cup of contrast agent. This contrast sets are now in the stomach wall from the inside and making it easily visible on the radiograph. Bulges or other contour changes of the gastric wall, which may be due to a stomach tumor, can be discerned well now. For female breast cancer diagnosis is a special x-ray examination method available, the mammogram.

Ultrasound:
While X-rays very well for the evaluation of certain bones or organs (including female breast, lung, suitable to the digestive tract after administration of contrast media), institutions are less compact tissue can not be identified, such as liver, pancreas or ovary. For the investigation of these organs, the ultrasound is applied. For example, it is a very useful method to study the liver metastasis of another tumor towards. Even in cases of suspected breast cancer, an ultrasound examination for tumor search can be used.

CT:
A detailed assessment of the internal organs allows for computed tomography (CT). Here, too, is an X-ray examination, however, are to be examined by the same body region produced multiple images from different angles. The patient lies on that in a special "investigation tube", are arranged around the individual X-ray machines. A computer then calculates from the many individual photographs sectional images through the body. In this way, for example, healthy lung tissue and a lung tumor is well delimited. In some cases, a more accurate representation can be done by using a special X-ray contrast agent. This is injected into a vein and accumulates after a few minutes in some tumors in high concentrations. Such a tumor is then subsequently prepared on the CT images particularly easy to recognize.

MRI:
Similar to the CT will feature an MRI (or "magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) from: The person concerned is in an analysis tube, images are taken from different angles and then assembled by a computer cross-sectional images. But its MRI in contrast to computed tomography no x-rays for use, but strong magnets, which cause the patient's body in the short term a change in the structure of the body atoms. This process leads to an image signal, which can be analyzed and printed as a result image, and then evaluated. Magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of many institutions a valuable resource, for example, to search or exclusion of metastases in the brain.

Scintigraphy:
Another imaging method is the scintigraphy. In this process, working with low-level radioactive substances that are injected into a vein of the patient and then attach themselves specifically in some tumors. Using a camera in the body of the patient is then scanned for signals of the radioactive substance which can be found for example in individual bones, if there have metastasized. The radioactive substance is excreted through the kidneys and there is no risk to the patient or his environment.

Tissue:
Many valuable information can be obtained by histological examination of tissue samples. Under the microscope can be seen, for example, whether it is a fast or slow growing tumor, or there is any tissue type. A tissue sample can usually get under local anesthesia. Thus, for example, with a very fine needle, the smallest amounts of tissue from a suspicious area is removed in the chest or in the thyroid. This study is very important because it can plan on the basis of this detailed information to cancer therapy is very precise and tailored to the individual concerned. Moreover, one can determine with the aid of special staining methods under the microscope, for example whether a tumor of the female breast is hormone sensitive. This means that each of the tumor cells have special structures on their cell surface, which make the tumor susceptible to hormone therapy.