[Carcinoembryonic antigen in multiple primary cancer of the colon]

The paper is concerned with analysis of CEA indices in 43 patients with multifocal colon cancer (22 with synchronous and 21 with metachronous colon cancer). The level of CEA was elevated in the group of patients with metachronous cancer in 85.7%, in the group of patients with synchronous cancer in 90.9%, and in the entire group of colon cancer patients in 88.4%. No correlation between the level of CEA and the presence of the second (third of more) tumor simultaneously was not revealed. CEA can be used as a test for diagnosis of recurrences and metachronous colon cancer during a follow-up of patients subjected to radical treatment for a primary colon tumor.