[CEA in the follow-up of breast carcinoma]

One of the dominant aspects of cancer research over the past 10-15 years has been the search for a specific, sensitive marker for the various cancer types and one with a high predictive value. The importance and frequency of breast cancer, the demanding follow-up required in mastectomised patients and the fact that mammary carcinoma responds quite well to therapy with a fairly good survival rate as long as metastases and recurrences are promptly identified and treated encouraged this investigation into the value of CEA as a tumour marker in the follow-up of breast cancer. The problem was to discover whether. CEA would prove prompter than traditional investigations in identifying the appearance of recurrences or metastases or the increase of existing metastases and whether it provided a reliable indicator of the course of the disease and its response to treatment. Analysis of the results obtained in a personal series provided a negative answer to the first question and a positive one to the second. It is therefore concluded that only a well-planned and comprehensive follow-up, making use of all radiological, instrumental, laboratory and clinical aids will prove of any real benefit to mastectomised patients.