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Japanese Journal of Cancer Research : Gann logoLink to Japanese Journal of Cancer Research : Gann
. 1990 Jan;81(1):58–62. doi: 10.1111/j.1349-7006.1990.tb02507.x

Changes in Serum and Tissue Carcinoembryonic Antigen with Growth of a Human Gastric Cancer Xenograft in Nude Mice

Teruo Kiyama 1, Masahiko Onda 1,, Akira Tokunaga 1, Keigo Nishi 1, Takashi Mizutani 1, Toshiro Yoshiyuki 1, Yasuhito Shimizu 1, Norio Matsukura 1, Noritake Tanaka 1, Goro Asano 2
PMCID: PMC5917949  PMID: 2108947

ABSTRACT

We established a human gastric cancer xenograft which, when inoculated into nude mice, showed a positive correlation between tumor growth and the serum level of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Serum CEA levels in the mice rose continuously with increasing tumor weight after inoculation, showing a correlation coefficient of 0.96. A positive correlation was also observed between the tissue CEA level and tumor weight, the former increasing along with the latter. Furthermore, the level of serum CEA closely paralleled that of tissue CEA. The serum CEA level fell after tumor extirpation, with a half‐life of approximately 86 h. These results suggest that the elevation of serum CEA is attributable to the gain in tumor weight as well as the increase of CEA production in the tumor tissue. Thus, human gastric cancer xenografts in nude mice are a good model for examining the biological role of CEA.

Keywords: Carcinoembryonic antigen, Gastric cancer, Nude mouse

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