CARCINO EMBRYONIC ANTIGEN (CEA)

Clinical Significance:

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a protein found in many types of cells but associated with tumors and the developing fetus. CEA is a protein that normally occurs in fetal gut tissue. After birth, detectable serum levels essentially disappear. However, CEA may increase in the presence of various disorders such as colon cancer.This test may also be used to determine the responsiveness of cancer patients to treatment (to determine if cancer is spreading or going into remission).The CEA was one of the first oncofetal antigens to be described and exploited clinically. It is a complex glycoprotein of molecular weight 20,000, that is associated with the plasma membrane of tumor cells, from which it may be released into the blood.

Although CEA was first indentified in colon cancer, an abnormal CEA blood level is specific neither for colon cancer nor for malignancy in general. Elevated CEA levels are found in a variety of cancers other than colonic, including pancreatic, gastric, lung, and breast. It is also detected in benign conditions including cirrhosis, inflamatory bowel disease, chronic lung disease, and pancreatitis. The CEA was found to be elevated in up to 19 per cent of smokers and in 3 per cent of a healthy control population. Thus, the test for CEA cannot substitute for a pathological diagnosis.

Since cancer prevalence in a healthy population is low, an elevated CEA has an unacceptably low positive predictive value, with excess false positives. Also, since elevated CEA occurs in the advanced stage of incurable cancer but is low in the early, curable disease, the likelihood of a positive result affecting a patient’s survival is diminished.The CEA has been sugested as having prognostic value for patients with colon cancer. Preoperative CEA values have been positively correlated with stage and negatively correlated with disease free survival.

Although not satisfactory for screening a healthy population, CEA has been used to monitor recurrence. Early data suggested that CEA predicted clinical relapse by several months. Subsequently, several investigators have examined intensive, serial CEA monitoring as an indicator for second look surgery in the hope that relapse could be detected at a time when surgicaL resection for cure was still possible. Criteria for reoperation included a significant rise of CEA above a base line level on serial determinations and absence of obvious unresectable disease on staging workup. Determinations of CEA should be done frequently: at a minimum of every 3 months and if possible every 1 month to 2 months. Elevations above baseline should be verified rapidly to exclude laboratory error.

The CEA is of some use as a monitor in treatment. Usually the CEA returns to normal within 1 to 2 months of surgery, but if it returns elevated persistent disease may be indicated. The test is not infallible in patients treated with radiotherapy and chemothera