Abstract
This paper reports the findings of the M.R.C., study into the use of the plasma CEA test for early detection of recurrence following "successful" surgery for colorectal carcinoma. This study was set up in 1973, and represents the largest series of patients published on this topic. It was primarily prospective, 468 patients being entered at the time of, or after the initial diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma. Follow-up was for at least 2 years, and both initially and throughout the follow-up the clinician treating the patient was kept "blind" to the patient's plasma CEA level. The general conclusion is that the CEA test provides a useful additional tool for the early detection of recurrence in these patients. Sixty-five per cent of patients with recurrence showed a raised plasma CEA level, and over half the patients who developed recurrence had a raised level some time before the disease was detected by other means. A surprising number of patients had a raised CEA level on a single occasion which subsequently returned to normal at the next follow-up and did not seem to be associated with malignancy. The problems associated with this type of study and their limiting effect on interpretation are discussed.
Full text
PDFSelected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Laurence D. J., Stevens U., Bettelheim R., Darcy D., Leese C., Turberville C., Alexander P., Johns E. W., Neville A. M. Role of plasma carcinoembryonic antigen in diagnosis of gastrointestinal, mammary, and bronchial carcinoma. Br Med J. 1972 Sep 9;3(5827):605–609. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5827.605. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Martin E. W., Jr, James K. K., Hurtubise P. E., Catalano P., Minton J. P. The use of CEA as an early indicator for gastrointestinal tumor recurrence and second-look procedures. Cancer. 1977 Feb;39(2):440–446. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197702)39:2<440::aid-cncr2820390212>3.0.co;2-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Staab H. J., Anderer F. A., Stumpf E., Fischer R. Slope analysis of the postoperative CEA time course and its possible application as an aid in diagnosis of disease progression in gastrointestinal cancer. Am J Surg. 1978 Sep;136(3):322–327. doi: 10.1016/0002-9610(78)90285-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tate H. Assessing tumour markers. Br J Cancer. 1981 Nov;44(5):643–651. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1981.249. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]