Carcinoembryonic Antigen to Detect Hepatic Metastases of Colorectal Cancers

Abstract

Purpose. The spread of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) affects both staging and treatment. In this prospective study we examined the relationship between carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in bile, mesenteric venous blood, and peripheral venous blood, and the presence of occult hepatic metastases in patients with CRC.

Methods. Sixty patients who underwent elective surgery at Ankara Oncology Hospital were voluntarily assigned to one of the three groups of 20 patients each. The control group consisted of patients operated on for benign biliary disorders, the second group consisted of patients with CRC without metastases, and the third group consisted of patients with CRC and isolated liver metastases. Bile, mesenteric venous blood, and peripheral venous blood was collected perioperatively for the measurement of CEA levels.

Results. The bile CEA levels were significantly higher in the CRC patients with metastases than in those without metastases and the controls. The CEA levels in the mesenteric venous blood and peripheral venous blood were significantly higher in the two groups of CRC patients than in the control group. Overt hepatic metastases later developed in seven patients from the CRC without metastases group who had relatively high CEA levels, but the difference was not significant.

Conclusion. The CEA levels in bile, mesenteric venous blood, and peripheral venous blood were increased in patients with CRC and liver metastases. The detection of elevated CEA levels in bile taken at surgery did not herald metachronous hepatic metastases in CRC patients without liver metastases.