Carcinoembryonic Antigen and β₂‐Microglobulin as Serum Tumor Markers in Women with Genital Cancer

Abstract

A comparative study of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-MG) in serum was made by radioimmunoassay in 77 women with genital cancer. With a positive level defined as 5 ng of CEA/ml and 3.0 microgram of beta 2-MG/ml, CEA was positive in 31% of the women with cancer of the corpus, 36% of those with cancer of the cervix and 36% of those with cancer of the ovary the corresponding figures for beta 2-MG were 6%, 27% and 56%, respectively. The additional use of beta 2-MG provided an increase in positive results, especially in cases of cancer of the ovary. A direct relationship between the extent of tumor and serum marker level was more evident for beta 2-MG than CEA. There was no correlation between serial levels of CEA and beta 2-MG in most patients. CEA levels appeared to predict subsequent tumor behavior more accurately in patients with good prognoses (ie, complete or partial tumor response), whereas beta 2-MG levels gave the same prediction in those with bad prognoses (ie, nonresponsive or progressive tumor).

Human epithelial-type ovarian tumour marker beta-2-microglobulin is regulated by the TGF-β signaling pathway

“…Clinical studies suggest that soluble B2M is a serum marker of the several types of cancers, including OC. In early 1979, the high level of serum B2M is found in 56 % OC patients [ 9 ]. Recently, an increase of B2M concentration is also detected in saliva [ 26 ] and peritoneal fluid [ 27 ] of patients with OC.…”

“…It exists in two forms, membrane and soluble B2M, which freely exchange with each other [ 1 – 3 ]. A high level of soluble B2M is detected in several types of cancers, including breast [ 4 ], colorectal [ 5 ], gastric [ 6 ], lung [ 7 ], oral [ 8 ], ovarian [ 9 ], prostate [ 10 ] and testicular [ 11 ] cancers, and may be implicated in the immune escape of cancer cells and cancer immunotherapy [ 12 – 15 ]. Accumulating data suggest that B2M may be a biomarker for cancers and a potential target for cancer therapy.…”

Oncofoetal antigens in cancer of the cervix and ovary

“…11% (Van Nagell et al, 1975), 18% (Donaldson et al, 1980) and 10% (Di Saia et al, 1977). When a CEA level of 5,Lg/l is taken as the cut-off point, the proportion of patients with high levels varies from 63% in cancer of the ovary (Khoo et al, 1977(Khoo et al, , 1979aSarjadi et al, 1980), 31% of cases of cancer of the corpus, 36% of patients with cancer of the cervix, and 36% of cancer of the ovary, compared to 0% in controls. Rutanen et al (1978), on the other hand, found an incidence of only 9-8% in patients with gynaecological cancer, with a maximal incidence in ovarian cancer (20%); squamous-cell carcinoma had 10%, adenocarcinoma of the cervix 19%, and endometrial carcinoma 7%.…”

“…In gynaecological cancer, a number ofworkers have looked for raised levels of various cancer-related substances which may correlate with tumour activity, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), o-foetoprotein (AFP), f subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), human placental lactogen, isoenzymes, etc. (Seppala et al, 1975;Fishman, et al, 1975;Lin et al, 1975;Samaan et al, 1976;Rutanen & Seppala, 1978;Khoo et al, 1977Khoo et al, , 1979a. In most of these studies, the predictive value of these tests is not clearly established.…”

Comparison of Serum β2-Microglobulin and Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) in the Follow-Up of Breast Cancer Patients

“…In the management of breast cancer patients a tumour marker of unique clinical value has not yet been established. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (1), an important parameter for disease progression as well as for the early detection of disease recurrence in gastrointestinal cancer (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13), is of less clinical significance in breast cancer, since pathologically elevated serum levels of CEA were recorded in only about 50% of cases (14,15). Therefore, the development of further diagnostic parameters is of urgent necessity in order to establish methods for a direct surveillance of tumour growth and control of the efficacy of therapeutic efforts.…”