Figure 4.
Distribution of carcinoembryonic antigen in colorectal cancer at different time points. Levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (line = median) in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients (a) with or without recurrence; (b) with or without new metastases; (c) with or without death; (d) with poor or better prognosis during follow-up after operation. Poor prognosis refers to the presence of any of the three mentioned prognosis, while better prognosis refers to none of them. The P value was calculated by paired t test through GraphPad Prism (version 7; GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA) and represented the significance level of the difference in each group as aforesaid. The dots represent individual CEA value while the dotted lines show the trend of the median CEA levels with time. Pre = pre-operation, M = months.