During my last blood draw the tech had trouble too and it showed 'platlett clumping' (I can't spell that, dang).....that can be a sign of lymphoma and as a breast cancer survivor I was very worried too. My doctor said that the bad blood draw can cause that. Good that you're going for another blood test Tumor marker blood tests can rise and fall with inflammation too I believe (as can results on PET scans be inflammation only and not cancer sometimes). The inflammation can be from something else (a virus etc). It's certainly not an exact science but just another tool.