Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The characteristics of the serum carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels in gastric cancer cases

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Surgery Today Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Although carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 are the most commonly used tumor markers in gastric cancer, the differences in the characteristics of these two markers remain unclear, because most previous studies have included many patients who were positive for both markers.

Methods

We analyzed the available data on 1050 patients with gastric cancer who underwent R0 resection. The background characteristics and recurrence-free survivals (RFS) were compared between the single-positive patients for CEA or CA 19-9 and double-negative patients.

Results

Among these 1050 patients, 86 patients (8.2 %) were positive for CEA only, 77 patients (7.3 %) were positive for CA 19-9 only, and 867 patients (82.6 %) were double negative for both markers. Patients who were elderly, male and had a differentiated histology were more commonly observed in the CEA-positive group than in the double-negative group (P = 0.004, P = 0.009, and P = 0.001). The patients who were positive for either CEA or CA 19-9 had a significantly worse RFS than the patients who were negative for both (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001). The most frequent site of recurrence was the liver (9.3 %) in the CEA-positive group and the peritoneum (11.7 %) in the CA 19-9-positive group.

Conclusion

Age, sex, and histological type were thus found to be associated with CEA positivity. CEA is, therefore, considered to be a sensitive marker for liver recurrence, while CA 19-9 is a sensitive marker for peritoneal recurrence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gold P, Freedman SO. Specific carcinoembryonic antigens of the human digestive system. J Exp Med. 1965;122:467–81.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Koprowski H, Steplewski Z, Mitchell K, Herlyn M, Herlyn D, Fuhrer P. Colorectal carcinoma antigens detected by hybridoma antibodies. Somati Cell Genet. 1979;5:957–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Hammarström S. The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family: structures, suggested functions and expression in normal and malignant tissues. Semin Cancer Biol. 1999;9:67–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Deng K, Yang L, Hu B, Wu H, Zhu H, Tang C. The prognostic significance of pretreatment serum CEA levels in gastric cancer: a meta-analysis including 14651 patients. PLoS One. 2015;10:e0124151.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Park JC, Lee YC, Kim JH, Kim YJ, Lee SK, Hyung WJ, et al. Clinicopathological aspects and prognostic value with respect to age: an analysis of 3,362 consecutive gastric cancer patients. J Surg Oncol. 2009;99:395–401.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Japanese Gastric CancerAssociation. Japanese classification of gastric carcinoma: 3rd English edition. Gastric Cancer. 2011;14:101–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gaspar MJ, Arribas I, Coca MC, Díez-Alonso M. Prognostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen, CA 19-9 and CA 72-4 in gastric carcinoma. Tumour Biol. 2001;22:318–22.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Kodera Y, Isobe K, Yamauchi M, Satta T, Hasegawa T, Oikawa S, et al. Expression of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and nonspecific crossreacting antigen (NCA) in gastrointestinal cancer; the correlation with degree of differentiation. Br J Cancer. 1993;68:130–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Nakane Y, Okamura S, Akehira K, Boku T, Okusa T, Tanaka K, et al. Correlation of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen levels and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. Cancer. 1994;73:2703–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Duraker N, Celik AN. The prognostic significance of preoperative serum CA 19-9 in patients with resectable gastric carcinoma: comparison with CEA. J Surg Oncol. 2001;76:266–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Ucar E, Semerci E, Ustun H, Yetim T, Huzmeli C, Gullu M. Prognostic value of preoperative CEA, CA 19-9, CA 72-4, and AFP levels in gastric cancer. Adv Ther. 2008;25:1075–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Huang ZB, Zhou X, Xu J, Du YP, Zhu W, Wang J, et al. Prognostic value of preoperative serum tumor markers in gastric cancer. World J Clin Oncol. 2014;5:170–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Fantini J, Rognoni JB, Culouscou JM, Pommier G, Marvaldi J, Tirard A. Induction of polarized apical expression and vectorial release of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) during the process of differentiation of HT29-D4 cells. J Cell Physiol. 1989;141:126–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Louhimo J, Kokkola A, Alfthan H, Stenman UH, Haglund C. Preoperative hCGbeta and CA 72-4 are prognostic factors in gastric cancer. Int J Cancer. 2004;111:929–33.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Jessup JM, Giavazzi R, Campbell D, Cleary K, Morikawa K, Fidler IJ. Growth potential of human colorectal carcinomas in nude mice: association with the preoperative serum concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen in patients. Cancer Res. 1998;48:1689–92.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Mori M, Sakaguchi H, Akazawa K, Tsuneyoshi M, Sueishi K, Sugimachi K. Correlation between metastatic site, histological type, and serum tumor markers of gastric carcinoma. Hum Pathol. 1995;26:504–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Sakamoto J, Nakazato H, Teramukai S, Ohashi Y, Takahashi Y, Mai M, et al. Association between preoperative plasma CEA levels and the prognosis of gastric cancer following curative resection. Surg Oncol. 1996;5:133–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Ikeda Y, Mori M, Kajiyama K, Kamakura T, Maehara Y, Haraguchi Y, et al. Indicative value of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for liver recurrence following curative resection of stage II and III gastric cancer. Hepatogastroenterology. 1996;43:1281–7.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Choi JY, Ha TK, Kwon SJ. Clinicopathologic characteristics of gastric cancer patients according to the timing of the recurrence after curative surgery. J Gastric Cancer. 2011;11:46–54.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Odagiri E, Jibiki K, Takeda M, Sugimura H, Iwachika C, Abe Y, et al. Effect of hemodialysis on the concentration of the seven tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen, alpha-fetoprotein, squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen, neuron-specific enolase, CA 125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3 in uremic patients. Am J Nephrol. 1991;11:363–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Lamerz R. Role of tumour markers, cytogenetics. Ann Oncol. 1999;10:145–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Königsrainer I, Zieker D, Symons S, Horlacher K, Königsrainer A, Beckert S. Do patient- and tumor-related factors predict the peritoneal spread of pancreatic adenocarcinoma? Surg Today. 2014;44:260–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Kanda M, Fujii T, Takami H, Suenaga M, Inokawa Y, Yamada S, et al. The combination of the serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and carcinoembryonic antigen is a simple and accurate predictor of mortality in pancreatic cancer patients. Surg Today. 2014;44:1692–701.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Noriko Wada, Yukinori Kurokawa, Yasuhiro Miyazaki, Tomoki Makino, Tsuyoshi Takahashi, Makoto Yamasaki, Kiyokazu Nakajima, Shuji Takiguchi, Masaki Mori & Yuichiro Doki

Authors
  1. Noriko Wada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yukinori Kurokawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yasuhiro Miyazaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tomoki Makino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tsuyoshi Takahashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Makoto Yamasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kiyokazu Nakajima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Shuji Takiguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Masaki Mori
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Yuichiro Doki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yukinori Kurokawa.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Noriko Wada and the co-authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wada, N., Kurokawa, Y., Miyazaki, Y. et al. The characteristics of the serum carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels in gastric cancer cases. Surg Today 47, 227–232 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-016-1408-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-016-1408-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation