Table 5. CA 19-9 serum levels are a reliable marker of chemotherapy response. A CA 19-9 serum levels which decreases to ≤20-50% of baseline levels within the first 6-8 weeks of treatment predicts prolonged survival and is an independent predictor of overall survival.
| Author, year | n | Change in CA19-9 serum level after treatment (%) | Median survival (months) |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ishii et al., 1997 (53) |
66 |
>50% <50% |
4.7 2.9 |
NA |
| Gogas et al., 1998 (54) |
35 |
≥15% ≤15% |
11.1 6.2 |
=0.001 |
| Halm et al., 2000 (55) |
43 |
>20% <20% |
8.9 3.7 |
<0.001 |
| Saad et al., 2002 (41) |
28 |
≥50% ≤50% |
13.8 9.8 |
=0.0272 |
| Stemmler, 2003 (56) |
87 |
>50% <50% |
9.8 5.8 |
=0.022 |
| Ziske et al., 2003 (57) |
46 |
>20% <20% |
12.8 8.1 |
=0.006 |
| Ko et al., 2005 (58) |
76 |
>25% <25% >50% <50% >75% <75% |
9.61 4.64 10.8 5.82 12.0 6.0 |
<0.001 <0.001 <0.001 |
| Pohlank et al., 2008 (59) |
181 |
>20% <20% |
12.5 8.7 |
<0.003 |
| Reni et al., 2009 (60) |
67 75 62 |
<50% 50-89% >89% |
6.5 10 16.7 |
<0.001 |
| Maisey et al., 2005 (44) |
88 |
<20% >20% |
Hazard ratio, 95% CI |
=0.019 |
| 1.95, 1.11-3.42 | ||||
| Hess et al., 2008 (61) |
175 |
≥50% ≤50% |
1.11, 0.81-1.52 |
=0.53 |
| Fogelman et al., 2008 (62) |
143 |
>50% |
0.46, 0.25-0.85 |
=0.01 |
| Haas et al., 2010 (63) |
70 |
>20% |
2.00 |
=0.018 |
| Takahashi et al., 2010 (64) | 31 27 6 |
SD* MD+ Increased |
Reference/control 2.85, 2.49-3.18 16.9, 4.81-58.8 |
<0.0001 |
NA: not available; CI: confidence interval; SD: *substantially decreased=pre-chemotherapy CA 19-9 (pre-CA 19-9) of <370 U/mL and Pre chemotherapy CA 19-9 serum level/Post chemotherapy CA 19-9 serum level ratio of <10%; MD: +moderately decreased=pre-chemotherapy CA19-9 of <370 U/mL and Pre-chemotherapy CA 19-9 serum level/Post chemotherapy CA 19-9 serum level ratio of 10-50%; Increased=pre-chemotherapy CA 19-9 serum level/post-chemotherapy CA 19-9 serum level ratio of >100%.