Carcinoembryonic antigen in gastric juice as an aid in diagnosis of early gastric cancer

Abstract

The levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the serum and gastric juice of 58 patients with gastric cancer were determined by radioimmunoassay. The level of serum CEA was not a satisfactory indicator of gastric cancer: it was elevated in only 19.4% of the cases of advanced and unresectable cancer and 4.5% of cases of early cancer examined. However, the CEA level in the gastric juice was significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer than in normal subjects or patients with benign gastric diseases: increased CEA concentrations and outputs in the gastric juice were observed in 54.5% and 40.1%, respectively, of the patients with early gastric cancer, and in 52.9% and 50.0%, respectively, of the patients with advanced gastric cancer. The gross type of gastric cancer had no influence on the gastric CEA level, but the CEA level in the gastric juice tended to be high when the tumors were large, or when they had little or no glandular structure or high mucus-secreting activity.

The role of serum and gastric juice levels of carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19.9 and CA72.4 in patients with gastric cancer

“…Results of our study on the percentage of marker positivity, although slightly higher, compare well with those reported in the literature, in both the serum and gastric juice, and con®rm that markers, when considered separately play a poor diagnostic role in gastric cancer patients. The combined evaluation of the three antigens (CEA, CA19.9, and CA72.4) in the serum and gastric juice showed a signi®cant increase in the diagnostic sensitivity documented by the percentage of cases (48 patients 81.3%) where the level of at least one marker was higher than its cut- (Filella et al 1994;Joypaul et al 1985;Takahashi et al 1994;Tatsuta et al 1980;Wobbes et al 1992). However, also in our experience, this high diagnostic sensitivity was not coupled to a linear correlation between the serum and gastric juice levels of markers.…”

“…Although the presence of CEA, CA19.9, and CA72.4 in the gastric juice has been suggested to be a parameter for the identi®cation of populations at risk and early tumor detection (Bunn et al 1979;Farinati et al 1988;Harrison et al 1989;Nitti et al 1983;Tatsuta et al 1980Tatsuta et al , 1988Tong and Wei-wen 1988), the low sensitivity of serum-positive markers means that they play a secondary diagnostic role (Hakama et al 1994;Norton and Fraker 1997;Posner and Mayer 1994;Roulston 1990;Schwartz 1993). Results of our study on the percentage of marker positivity, although slightly higher, compare well with those reported in the literature, in both the serum and gastric juice, and con®rm that markers, when considered separately play a poor diagnostic role in gastric cancer patients.…”

“…After thawing, the pH of gastric juice was measured again and adjusted to 7 with sodium bicarbonate buer. The technique was similar to that described by Tatsuta et al (1980) and Nitti et al (1983). Serum and gastric juice CEA, CA19.9, and CA72.4 levels were determined by immunoradiometric assay using CIS RIA MoAb-Centocor kits (CIS International, Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France).…”

The Role of Bile Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Diagnosing Bile Duct Cancer

“…This antigen has been detected in various body fluids such as the gastrointestinal and pancreatobiliary juice (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). Several studies have described the diagnostic utility of the increased CEA levels in the body fluids in primary malignant tumors arising from the stomach, colon, biliary tract, and pancreas (4-11).…”

“…Currently, the performance of the available tumor markers as screening tests for diagnosing a malignancy in high risk individuals is inadequate because of the reduced sensitivity and occasional false-positive results (1)(2)(3). However, several studies have suggested that measuring the CEA in the body fluid bathing primary or metastatic tumors may be more useful than the serum value (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic role of the bile CEA levels in patients with bile duct cancer.…”