Neopterin. A tumor marker in colorectal carcinoma?

Neopterin is compared with other tumor markers in colorectal carcinoma. Its sensitivity is clearly lower than that of CEA, TPA and CA 19/9 and is even lower than the sensitivity of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The ability of neopterin to discriminate between different tumor stages is also lower than that of the other markers. The discriminant analysis shows that measurement of neopterin in the serum of patients with colorectal carcinoma gives no essential additional information.