What is the blood test for cancer? What is occult blood stool test?
Why does the doctor always order basic blood and urine tests for cancer? These simple tests, sometimes called CBC ( complete blood count ), SMA 12 ( serum factors ), and UA (urine analysis), give the doctor a great deal of basic information about your general health problems. They can usually be done in the doctor's office. What does the complete blood count consist of? The technician takes whole blood from your vein as well as a blood smear from your finger and uses the samples to check the hemoglobin , white blood cell count, and complete red and white cells in the blood and the platelets. The hematocrit test requires that the blood be spun in a centrifuge and measures (usually on an automatic counting machine with computer printout) the volume of red cells as a percent of the total volume. This test can help detect if anemia is present, though it cannot identify the type of anemia. The hemoglobin test measures the number of grams of red cell pigment in 100 cubic cen...