Cancer Tests
Cancer Tests: tools that may help guide treatment, monitor response, and estimate recurrence risk
Cancer tests can sometimes help answer three important questions: Which treatment is most likely to work? Is the current treatment having an effect? What is the likely risk of recurrence? This page is an overview of the main categories of cancer-related tests that patients may encounter, including chemosensitivity testing, recurrence-risk assays, monitoring tests, early-detection tests, and genetic sequencing. Its purpose is not to promote any one provider, but to explain what these tests are designed to do and where they may fit into decision-making.
Some of these tests are already used in mainstream oncology for specific situations, particularly certain recurrence-risk assays in breast and prostate cancer. Others are more controversial, less widely adopted, or marketed mainly through private laboratories. That distinction matters. A useful cancer test is not simply one that sounds sophisticated; it is one that provides information that is accurate, clinically meaningful, and capable of changing management in a worthwhile way.
This page is therefore organised by function. It begins with tests that aim to identify drug sensitivity, then moves to tests used to estimate recurrence risk, tests used to monitor whether treatment is working, tests marketed for early detection, and finally broader genetic sequencing approaches. Within each section, the goal is to clarify what the test claims to measure, what decisions it may help with, and how cautious a reader should be when interpreting the result.
Read this page as a structured guide to the landscape of cancer testing: some tools are reasonably established, some are promising but niche, and some require a much more critical reading of their claims.
Key points
- The value of a cancer test depends less on how advanced it sounds and more on whether it changes a real treatment decision.
- Some recurrence-risk and genomic tests are reasonably established in specific settings, while others remain niche, controversial, or more commercially driven.
- This page works best as a guide to test categories and their practical use, not as an endorsement of every provider listed.
Tests that may help choose treatment
Chemosensitivity Tests reveals which anti-cancer drugs (and natural substances) are effective at killing each patient’s cancer cells and which agents are not effective. The most promising drug regimen can be selected for each cancer patient, increasing the odds for treatment success. At the same time, ineffective drugs are avoided.
See Chemosensitivity Tests
Tests that estimate recurrence risk
Tests to predict recurrence would help find people who need more monitoring after treatment and provide a chance to find and treat them earlier.
Tests include: Oncotype DX® Prostate Cancer Assay and Oncotype DX® Breast Cancer Assay. See Recurrence Tests
Tests that monitor response
Tests that monitor your response to treatment can save you precious time and give you the chance to change to a different treatment if the current one is not working.
See Treatment Response Tests
Tests aimed at early detection
Early cancer detection will give you lots of time to change your diet and lifestyle before the condition has time to develop into full blown cancer.
Tests include ONCOblot® Test and Nagalase Blood Test
See Cancer Detection Tests
Genetic sequencing
Tissue samples (blood in some cases) from biopsies can be genetically sequenced to aid treatment decisions. For example, drugs that are useful for fighting your cancer may be revealed.
See Genetic Sequencing Tests
Last updated January 2026