J Korean Surg Soc.  2008 Oct;75(4):250-254.

The Level of Serum CEA Associated with Recurrence after Potentially Curative Surgery for Colorectal Cancer

• Son DN
• Moon SW
• Ha DY
• Jung HG
• Jung BW

Abstract

PURPOSE
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is the most widely used tumor marker for detecting colorectal cancer. This study was designed to evaluate the level of serum CEA that is associated with recurrence after potentially curative surgery for colorectal cancer.
METHODS
We retrospectively investigated the pre- and post-operative levels of serum CEA in 246 patients with colorectal cancer and they had undergone potentially curative surgery from 1996 through 2005.
RESULTS
The pre-operative CEA level was significantly associated with the number of metastatic lymph nodes, the tumor size and the recurrence rate. The feature that was associated with recurrent disease on multivariate analysis was the pre-operative level of serum CEA.
CONCLUSION
In order to detect the recurrence of colorectal cancer, we should closely follow up with frequent checks of the CEA level after surgery for those patients who had a high preoperative CEA level.

Keyword

Colorectal cancer; CEA

MeSH Terms

Carcinoembryonic Antigen
Colorectal Neoplasms
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Multivariate Analysis
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Carcinoembryonic Antigen