Carcinoembryonic antigen fraction in digestive cancer

A clinical study in a group of patients with digestive cancers was done with a radioimmunoassay technique employing a carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) fraction. Among 45 patients with colorectal carcinomas, 51% showed CEA levels in the pathologic range before therapy, those with metastatic disease from well differentiated adenocarcinomas showed the higher values. Measurement of the circulating levels of this CEA fraction proved to be more useful in the monitoring of the course of disease during and after antineoplastic treatment. Sensitivity of the radioimmunoassay technique for the remaining digestive cancers was over 50%, but pathologic CEA values are not exclusive for malignant digestive disease, since 22% of patients with benign diseases also showed raised serum levels of CEA.