J Korean Cancer Assoc.
2000 Feb;32(1):38-43.
The Significance of Serum CA 19 - 9 Level in Gastric
Adenocarcinoma
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Surgery, University of Ulsan College of Medicine,
Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract
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PURPOSE: This study was designed to investigate the significance of
preoperative serum CA 19-9 level as a prognostic factor and postoperative
serum CA 19-9 level as an indicator for recurrence in gastric adenocarcinoma patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
328 patients, who received curative resection
of stomach for gastric cancer from 1989 to 1996 and followed up successfully,
were analyzed retrospec- tively. Median follow-up period was 24 months
(range: 11-38 months). The cut off level of serum CA 19-9 was 37 U/ml.
The relationships between preoperative serum CA 19-9 status and prognostic
parameters, recurrence and survival rate were analyzed. Multivariate
analysis using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed
to evaluate as an independent prognostic factor. The relationship
between postoperative serum CA 19-9 level and recurrence was investigated.
RESULTS
Out of 328 cases, 29 cases (8.8%) showed elevated preoperative serum
CA 19-9 level. The preoperative serum CA 19-9 level was correlated with
the degree of depth of invasion and the status of lymph node metastasis
(p<0.05). Patients with positive pre- operative serum CA 19-9 status
showed higher incidence of recurrence (p<0.05) and poorer survival rate
(p=0.00003) than patients with negative status. Preoperative serum CA 19-9
status (risk ratio: 3.4464, p=0.0039) revealed as an independent prognostic
factor in multivariate analysis. Postoperative serum CA 19-9 status revealed
as a useful predictor for recurrence in patients with positive preoperative
serum CA 19-9 status.
CONCLUSION
Preoperative serum CA 19-9 determination in patients with gastric
cancer was valuable for predicting tumor progression and prognosis. Preoperative
serum CA 19-9 status may be helpful to predict recurrence earlier than other
diagnostic tools, especially in the patients with positive preoperative serum
CA 19-9 status.