CYFRA 21-1 serum analysis in patients with esophageal cancer

This study was conducted to determine a potential use of CYFRA 21-1 in patients suffering from carcinoma of the esophagus. CYFRA 21-1 serum concentrations of 50 patients with histologically proven malignant lesion of the esophagus were compared with 50 healthy persons, 50 patients with benign esophageal disease, and 50 patients with benign lung disease. Additional analysis of serum carcinoembryonic antigen, CA 72-4, and squamous cell carcinoma-antigen serum concentrations were performed. The patients with esophageal carcinoma underwent follow-up tumor marker examinations every three months for 1 year. Analysis to detect statistically significant differences was conducted to estimate a cutoff and to evaluate tumor entity, tumor stage, survival, and tumor-free survival. CYFRA 21-1 at a cutoff of 1.40 ng/ml showed an overall sensitivity to esophageal carcinoma of 36% (45.5% to squamous cell carcinoma, 17.6% to adenocarcinoma) at a specificity of 97.3%. CYFRA 21-1 concentrations showed a tendency to higher serum levels depending on local tumor burden. A correlation of CYFRA 21-1 with various N- or M-stage disease was not observed. Postoperative development in terms of survival and tumor-free survival showed significant correlation to preoperative CYFRA 21-1 concentrations. Clinical tumor recurrence was preceded by CY-FRA 21-1 elevation by 3.4 months. For prognosis and follow-up, this marker is justified for additional analysis in a larger series of patients suffering from carcinoma of the esophagus.