Interview with Dr. David German

Dr. David S. German, MD has a specialization in orthopedic hand surgery. He works at the Midwest Plastic & hand Surgery in Saint Louis, Missouri. He has three board certifications: General surgery, hand surgery and plastic surgery.  He has worked with different skin problems, such as removal of birth marks. 

                While speaking with Dr. German,  he stated that there are different tumor markers for a specific tumor itself. Tumor markers are generated throughout the body which do not directly correspond with that area of the body.  Also, tumor markers are “predictions” or “precursors” to a tumor or a cancer itself. An example would be CA25 which is a protein that codes for ovarian or breast cancer.  CA25 is like a tumor marker which helps with the diagnosis of ovarian or breast cancer, but it has to be found in higher-than-normal amounts. It is not possible to monitor a patient without monthly blood  or urine test. The only other test that is possible is taking a piece of a tumor itself and that is how to test for tumor markers. There are different tumor markers, there only some that are linked to cancers.   Tumor markers are rarely enough to show that cancer is present in the body, imaging or other lab tests  will be requested to make sure it is cancer or a tumor.

                Dr. German has worked with birth marks in the past.  There is a ten to fifteen percent chance that the birth mark on the face is a cancerous. The birth mark sometimes works as a tumor marker for skin cancer. The determining factor is dependent on the location, color, and the size of the birth mark. The age of an individual be influential on how the likely a cancer would be detected.  Birth marks on the face are usually removed because it is the most common cause of cancer.  The birth mark is considered to be a tumor marker, but there has to be a certain type of mutation to a gene.  Dr. German gave the example of the elephant man, which he has, a higher risk of skin cancer issues and other tumor markers for different cancers.

                Many patients believe that if they go in for gene testing or figuring out if there is an issue with tumor markers, they will have cancer that goes along with it or that the insurance would be increased or that they would not be covered.