Roles of circulating carcinoembryonic antigen and calcitonin in diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma: A comparative study.

Abstract

SynopsisCarcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and calcitonin (CT) were simultaneously determined in sera and tumor tissues from 15 patients with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT). Serum CEA was increased in all but one patient, and CT did in all of them. Both levels were significantly related to the weight of excised tumor, but not to the presence of metastasis.Furthermore, a significant correlation was noted between the basal levels of CT and CEA. Both levels fell to normal after a radical operation had been performed.Tissue concentrations of CEA and CT in the MCT were more than 100 times those in hyperthyroidism, and the ratios of tissue over serum levels averaged 770 in CEA and 1000 in CT. In the calcium infusion test, CEA levels were not significantly changed in contrast with a distinct increase in CT levels. The results indicate that CEA and CT represent separate activities of the tumor cells, and that circulating CEA together with CT is a useful indicator in the diagnosis and follow-up of the disease.

Localization of carcinoembryonic antigen in medullary thyroid carcinoma by immunofluorescent techniques

“…By contrast, no significant fluorescence was detected in other histological types of carcinomas and benign diseases of the thyroid, except for one case of papillofollicular adenocarcinoma. The results obtained are consistent with the highly specific association of increased 573 I CEA levels with MCT Hamada et al, 1976) and, further, provide direct evidence for production of CEA by this tumour.…”

Plasma carcinoembryonic antigen versus plasma calcitonin in the diagnosis of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid

“…A positive correlation [1,2,9] was demonstrated between CEA, the tumour-associated foetal antigen initially discovered in colonic tumours [8], and CT levels in the plasma of the patients. These studies suggested that measurement of CEA in plasma may be of value in the diagnosis of MCT.…”

Methodology and Applications of Disease Biomarker Identification in Human Serum

“…Human corionic gonadotropin-β, a glycoprotein, elevated serum level indicates the presence of metastatic testicular seminoma tumors but lactic acid dehydrogenase serum level, rather than human corionic gonadotropin-β, is more useful as a prognostic indicator for those patients with seminoma (Hori et al 1997). Even though serum calcitonin and CEA are biomarkers for medullary thyroid carcinoma (Hamada et al 1976), some recent studies report that those biomarkers are of no clinical use (Bockhorn et al 2004), while other studies add progastrin-releasing peptide, which is considered to be a specific marker for small cell lung carcinoma, as an additional marker for the diagnosis and monitoring the response to therapy in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (Ide et al 2001). The evaluation of the concentration of metalloproteinase-2 and its tissue inhibitor TIMP-2 in peripheral blood serum may be useful for the differentiation between benign and malignant thyroid tumors, but their concentrations in patients with thyroid cancer did not significantly correlate with the clinical staging of thyroid cancer (Pasieka et al 2004).…”