Table 3.

Clinical relevance of serum tumor markers for gastric cancer

	T category	N category	M category	Peritoneal metastasis	Histology	Prognosis	Recurrence pattern
CEA	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Distant
CA19-9	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Distant
CA72-4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Distant and/or peritoneal
AFP	NA	NA	Yes	NA	Yes	Yes	Liver
CA125	NA	NA	NA	Yes	No	Yes	Peritoneal
STN	NA	NA	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Peritoneal

NA: not enough evidence to evaluate clinical significance was available; CEA: carcinoembryonic antigen; CA19-9: carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in the sialyl Lewis A group; CA72-4: cancer antigen 72-4; AFP: alpha-fetoprotein; CA125: cancer antigen 125; STN: sialyl Tn antigen