Other names: AFP, Serum, Tumor Marker, Alpha-Fetoprotein, Alphafetoprotein
Optimal Result:
0 - 8.3 U/mL.
Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumor marker that plays a significant role in medical diagnostics, particularly in the screening and monitoring of certain cancers. AFP is a protein normally produced by the liver and yolk sac of a developing fetus, with levels in the blood dropping significantly soon after birth. In adults, elevated levels of AFP can be indicative of liver disease, cancer, or other conditions, making it a valuable tool in the arsenal of diagnostic markers for specific health issues.
The primary use of AFP testing is in the context of liver cancer, or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most common types of cancer worldwide. Elevated AFP levels in adults can suggest the presence of HCC, especially in individuals at risk due to conditions like chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis. However, it's important to note that not all liver cancers will cause increased AFP levels, and not all increases in AFP are due to liver cancer. This necessitates the use of AFP testing in conjunction with other diagnostic tools and assessments to ensure accurate diagnosis and effective treatment planning.
AFP testing is also employed in the management of germ cell tumors, particularly testicular cancer. These tumors, while less common than liver cancer, can also produce AFP, making its measurement useful in both diagnosis and monitoring. In patients diagnosed with germ cell tumors, measuring AFP levels over time can help assess the effectiveness of treatment and detect any recurrence of the disease.
Beyond its role in cancer diagnostics, AFP testing plays a crucial part in prenatal screening programs. During pregnancy, AFP is among several markers measured from the mother's blood to assess the risk of developmental abnormalities in the fetus, such as neural tube defects and Down syndrome. Abnormal levels of AFP during pregnancy can prompt further testing to evaluate fetal health and guide care.
Despite its utility, AFP testing is not without its limitations. Elevated AFP levels can be seen in conditions other than cancer, including liver regeneration, chronic hepatitis, and even in some benign liver disorders. Therefore, interpreting AFP results requires careful consideration of the entire clinical picture, including patient history, risk factors, and other diagnostic findings.
Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) serves as a critical biomarker in the detection and management of certain cancers, notably hepatocellular carcinoma and germ cell tumors. Its utility extends to prenatal screening, where it aids in assessing the risk of developmental abnormalities. However, the interpretation of AFP levels must be done with caution, integrating other diagnostic information to ensure accurate assessment and optimal patient care. As research continues, the understanding and application of AFP in medical practice will likely evolve, further enhancing its role in improving patient outcomes.
If your results show high levels of AFP, it may confirm a diagnosis of liver cancer, or cancer of the ovaries or testicles. Sometimes, high levels of AFP can be a sign of other cancers, including Hodgkin disease and lymphoma, or noncancerous liver disorders.
If you are being treated for cancer, you may be tested several times throughout your treatment. After repeated tests, your results may show:
- Your AFP levels are increasing. This may mean your cancer is spreading, and/or your treatment is not working.
- Your AFP levels are decreasing. This may mean your treatment is working.
- Your AFP levels have not increased or decreased. This may mean your disease is stable.
- Your AFP levels decreased, but then later increased. This may mean your cancer has come back after you've been treated.
High levels of AFP can be a sign of:
- liver cancer
- cancer of the ovaries
- cancer of the testicles
- as well as noncancerous liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatitis.
High AFP levels don't always mean cancer, and normal levels don't always rule out cancer. So an AFP tumor marker test is not usually used by itself to screen for or diagnose cancer. But it can help diagnose cancer when used with other tests. The test may also be used to help monitor the effectiveness of cancer treatment and to see if cancer has returned after you've finished treatment.
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Elevated levels of Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) can signify a variety of conditions, primarily indicating liver disease, certain types of cancer (such as liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma and testicular cancer), and noncancerous liver disorders. In adults, high AFP levels are closely associated with liver regeneration processes following liver damage, chronic liver diseases like hepatitis and cirrhosis, and also with pregnancy. The diagnosis of conditions related to elevated AFP levels involves a comprehensive approach that includes the AFP blood test alongside imaging studies (like ultrasound, CT scans, or MRIs), physical examinations, and sometimes biopsies to confirm the presence of tumors or liver damage. Elevated AFP can be a symptom of underlying health issues; however, AFP itself does not cause symptoms. Instead, the symptoms experienced by individuals with high AFP levels might include weight loss, abdominal pain, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), and other signs related to the specific underlying condition. Treatment options vary widely based on the cause of the elevated AFP. For liver cancer, options may include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. In cases of noncancerous liver diseases, managing the underlying condition through medication, lifestyle changes, and sometimes surgical interventions to relieve symptoms or stop disease progression is the focus. Testicular cancer treatments often involve surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. It's crucial for patients with elevated AFP levels to have a personalized treatment plan, developed in consultation with a healthcare team, to address the specific cause and its associated health implications effectively.
The information provided here is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read here. The content provided does not cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, drug interactions, or adverse effects, nor should it be construed to indicate that use of a particular drug is safe, appropriate, or effective for you or anyone else. A healthcare professional should be consulted before taking any drug, changing any diet, or commencing or discontinuing any course of treatment. Reliance on any information provided here is solely at your own risk.
Import lab results from multiple providers, track changes over time, customize your reference ranges, and get clear explanations for each result. Everything is stored securely, exportable in one organized file, and shareable with your doctor—or anyone you choose.
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Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a protein produced primarily by the liver and yolk sac of a developing fetus. It is the most abundant plasma protein in the human fetus. In adults, AFP serves as a biomarker for various health conditions. Normal AFP levels in adults are generally less than 40 micrograms/liter. The significance of AFP levels varies depending on the context:
Low AFP levels in maternal serum during pregnancy may indicate possible chromosomal abnormalities, such as:
AFP is typically interpreted alongside other markers in a quadruple screen to assess the risk of these conditions. However, low AFP alone is not diagnostic, and further testing is usually required for confirmation.
For non-pregnant adults, a low AFP level is typically not a cause for concern.
AFP is often used as a tumor marker, especially for:
In this context:
AFP testing is often combined with other diagnostic methods, such as imaging, for more accurate cancer diagnosis and monitoring.
While AFP is a valuable biomarker, its interpretation should always be done in conjunction with other clinical findings and diagnostic tests to ensure accurate diagnosis and effective treatment planning.
Laboratories
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Designed for professionals managing their clients' lab reports
About membership
Import Lab Results from Any Source
Easily upload lab results from any provider, whether it's a hospital, independent lab, or home testing service. We support PDFs, scanned documents, and JPEGs from patient portals. No need to log in to multiple platforms — everything is centralized in one secure space.
Easily upload lab results from any provider — we support PDFs, scans, and images. Keep all your reports organized in one secure place.
See Your Health Timeline
Every lab result is automatically organized on a chronological timeline, giving you a complete picture of your health journey. Whether you're tracking a condition, managing treatments, or staying proactive, the timeline helps you and your doctor understand how things progress over time.
Every lab result is automatically organized on a chronological timeline, giving you a complete picture of your health journey.
Understand What Your Results Mean
Whether it's a blood test, GI panel, urinalysis, or something else, lab reports measure numerous biomarkers that reveal what's happening inside your body. Our extensive database covers over 10,000 biomarkers, providing clear, simple explanations of what each result means and how you can take action—no matter your membership level. Say goodbye to confusion and get the insights you need to better understand your health.
Our database covers over 10,000 biomarkers with clear, simple explanations—so you can finally understand your results and what to do next.
Enter Your Lab Reports Yourself — Always Free
Enter Your Lab Reports — Always Free
If you'd like to handle inputting your health data into your account, you can do so with our easy-to-use data entry forms. Our user-friendly form is designed to guide you through the quick and easy submission process, making it simple to keep track of your health metrics. This is available to both Complete plan and Unlimited plan members.
Our user-friendly form guides you through a quick, simple submission process, making it easy to enter your health metrics.
Add your results anytime with our easy entry form. It's quick, guided, and helps you stay organized — free for all members.
Visualize Your Results
View your lab data through easy-to-read graphs and tables. Quickly spot patterns, track changes, and compare results across different dates — all without digging through multiple reports. You can also select and compare graphs of specific biomarkers side-by-side to better understand how they relate and change over time.
See your lab reports in clear graphs and tables. Spot patterns, track changes, and compare results over time — all in one place.
Export Your Complete Lab History in a Single File
Export Your Complete Lab History
After collecting lab results from different providers, you can download your entire history combined into a single file. Choose from PDF, Excel, or CSV formats to easily review, share, or get a second opinion—no more juggling multiple reports.
After collecting lab results from different providers, you can download your entire history combined into a single file.
Comprehensive Data Entry Service for Your Reports
Data Entry Service for Your Reports
Our inclusive service handles the data entry for your lab reports. Just submit your information and we'll take care of the rest. Complete plan members receive one report entered for free, then $15 per report after that. Unlimited plan members receive ten report entries for free, then $15 per report after that.
Our inclusive service handles the data entry for your lab reports. Just submit your information and we'll take care of the rest.
Securely Share With Anyone You Trust
Whether you're working with a doctor, nutritionist, caregiver, or wellness coach, you can securely share your complete lab history by sending an invite link to anyone you trust. You have full control over who sees your information and for how long, ensuring your privacy and peace of mind at every step.
Share your full lab history with your doctor, nutritionist, or coach using a secure invite link.
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I have been using Healthmatters.io since 2021. I travel all over the world and use different doctors and health facilities. This site has allowed me to consolidate all my various test results over 14 years in one place. And every doctor that I show this to has been impressed. Because with any health professional I talk to, I can pull up historical results in seconds. It is invaluable. Even going back to the same doctor, they usually do not have the historical results from their facility in a graph format. That has been very helpful.
Anthony
Unlimited Plan Member since 2021
What fantastic service and great, easy-to-follow layouts! I love your website; it makes it so helpful to see patterns in my health data. It's truly a pleasure to use. I only wish the NHS was as organized and quick as Healthmatters.io. You've set a new standard for health tracking!
Karin
Advanced Plan Member since 2020
As a PRO member and medical practitioner, Healthmatters.io has been an invaluable tool for tracking my clients' data. The layout is intuitive, making it easy to monitor trends and spot patterns over time. The ability to customize reports and charts helps me present information clearly to my clients, improving communication and outcomes. It's streamlined my workflow, saving me time and providing insights at a glance. Highly recommended for any practitioner looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly solution to track patient labs!
Paul
Healthmatters Pro Member since 2024
Healthmatters is a personal health dashboard that helps you organize and understand your lab results. It collects and displays your medical test data from any lab in one secure, easy-to-use platform.
With a Healthmatters account, you can:
Professionals can also analyze client data more efficiently and save time managing lab reports.
Healthmatters.io personal account provides in-depth research on 4000+ biomarkers, including information and suggestions for test panels such as, but not limited to:
You can combine all test reports inside your Healthmatters account and keep them in one place. It gives you an excellent overview of all your health data. Once you retest, you can add new results and compare them.
If you are still determining whether Healthmatters support your lab results, the rule is that if you can test it, you can upload it to Healthmatters.
While we work with many popular labs, we welcome reports from lots of other places too.
It's as simple as this: if you can get a test done, you can upload it to Healthmatters and we can interpret results from any lab out there. If laboratories can analyze it, we can interpret it.
If you're on the hunt for a specific biomarker, contact us and we'll add it to our database. Anything from blood, urine, saliva, or stool can be uploaded, understood, and tracked with your Healthmatters account.
The Complete Plan ($15/month) is perfect for individuals who want ongoing access to their health data. It includes unlimited lab imports, visual tracking, custom ranges, result explanations, full account exports, and secure sharing — all with a simple monthly subscription. You can cancel anytime and restart your plan whenever you're ready — your data will still be there waiting for you. You can also upgrade to the Unlimited Plan at any time, with the cost prorated based on what you've already paid.
The Unlimited Plan ($250 one-time) is also designed for individuals but offers lifetime access with no ongoing subscription. You'll get all the same features as the Complete Plan, plus a larger initial data entry allowance (10 reports), making it a great choice if you prefer a one-time payment and long-term use without monthly fees.
In short:
There are two ways to add your test reports to your Healthmatters account. One option is to input the data using the data entry forms. The other method is to utilize our "Data entry service."
Our data entry forms offer an easy, fast, and free way for you to input the reports yourself. Self-entry allows you to add an unlimited number of reports at no cost. We make the self-entry process user-friendly, providing dozens of templates that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels and offering instant feedback on entered values.
For those who prefer assistance, we offer a "Data entry service" to help you input your data. Simply attach an image or file of your lab test results, and a qualified team member from our data entry team will add the results for you.
We support various file types, including PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is particularly useful if you have many reports to upload or if you're too busy to handle the data entry yourself.
Our Data Entry Service is for when you don't want to manually type in your lab results yourself. You simply upload your report (PDF, image, or screenshot), and our trained team enters the information into your Healthmatters account for you — accurately and neatly organized, ready to view in graphs, tables, and timelines.
The $15 per report covers the time and care it takes for a real person to review your file, make sure each result is entered correctly, and double-check for accuracy. This ensures your health data is precise and easy to work with — without you having to spend the time doing it yourself.
Prefer to do it yourself? You can always use our free self-entry tool to add results manually — it just takes a bit more time and attention.
For users on the Complete monthly plan, the first report is entered free of charge, and each additional report incurs a fee of $15.
Unlimited account holders enjoy the entry of ten reports without charge. Subsequent reports are subject to a $15 fee per report.
Additionally, users on the Complete plan can upgrade to a yearly subscription from the account settings. The annual subscription includes a data entry service for five reports.
All professional accounts allow you to import and onboard an unlimited number of clients and their lab results. The distinction between professional plans lies solely in the data entry service.
The Pro Monthly Plus plan is priced at $75 per month and includes a data entry service for five reports each month. Additional reports can be self-entered at no extra cost or, if preferred, you can use our data entry service for an additional fee of $15 per report.
The Pro Monthly plan is priced at $45 per month and does not include a data entry service. Self-entry is free for an unlimited number of reports, and you can opt for the data entry service at a fee of $15 per report.
You also have the option to upgrade to higher monthly or to annual plans, which come with substantial discounts. All upgrades can be done directly from your account.
Simply log in and navigate to your account settings to cancel your subscription. Scroll down to locate the 'Cancel' button at the bottom of the page. Ensure you cancel at least one day before the renewal date to prevent any charges. Once cancellation is requested, the subscription remains active until the conclusion of the current billing cycle.
Our goal has been to make your Healthmatters account as intuitive as possible.
We've crafted multiple ways for you to navigate your data, whether you're glancing at a single report or delving into your historical test reports.
1. Graph View:Dive into a visual journey with our biomarker graphs, showcasing over 40 data points. Combining years of results unveils trends, empowering you to make informed decisions. Our visualization tools make it a breeze to compare and understand changes over time, even if your results are from different labs. A search function and filters simplify the exploration of extensive data, allowing you to focus on what needs attention.
2. All Tests ViewExplore neatly organized reports on a timeline, highlighting crucial details like dates, critical results, and lab/panel names. Each report opens up to reveal in-depth descriptions and additional recommendations for each biomarker. The history of previous results is just a click away, and you can download a comprehensive report for deeper insights. Color-coded and user-friendly, it's designed for easy reading, understanding, and navigation.
3. Table View:For a holistic view of all biomarkers side by side, our table view is your go-to. Results are neatly displayed in a categorized and dated table, ideal for those with an extensive test history. Utilize sorting, filters, and color-coding to enhance your analysis and gain extra insights.
Yes, you can download your information anytime. We offer two easy ways to export your lab data:
This makes it simple to save, back up, or share your health data whenever you need.
Yes, you can print your report. To do so, navigate to "All tests" and open the report you wish to print. You'll find a print button in the right corner of the report. Click on it, and your browser's print window will open. If you prefer to print in a bigger typeface, adjust the scale using the print window settings.
Yes, you can! We highly recommend activating Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for your account. To do so, please navigate to the "Profile and Security" section of your account, where you will find instructions for activating 2FA.
Yes, you can. When entering values for the biomarker, you will see an "Edit Range" button. Click this button, and you'll have the option to enter a custom range.
A personal account is all about keeping your own lab test results in check. It's just for you and your personal use.
The professional account is designed for health professionals who wish to track and organize their clients' laboratory results.
To learn more about Healthmatters Pro, please refer to the professional page.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
