Prognostic Value of CA19-9 and CA242 in Gallbladder Cancer - An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: There are, at present, no biomarkers topredict to prognosis of Gallbladder cancer. We conducted aprospective exploratory study to evaluate the role to serum CA19-9 and CA 242 as prognostic markers.Material and Methods: We enrolled consecutive patients forthis study and CA 19-9 and 242 were estimated from venoussamples. Association of these markers with clinical variablesand median overall survival (OS) difference between patientswho has raised versus normal levels of these markers wasdetermined.Results: Sixty-two patients were enrolled for this study.Forty-four (71%) patients had elevated CA19-9. Thirty-nine(62.9%) patients had an raised CA242 levels. CA 19-9 wasfound to be significantly associated with the presence ofjaundice (p=0.038) and advanced stage (p=0.009). MedianOS of patients who had elevated CA 19-9 was 5.73 monthscompared to 8.33 months in patients who had normal CA19-9. The difference was not statistically different (p= 0.15).Median OS for patients who had elevated CA 242 was 5.53months, which was inferior to those who had normal levels(9.1 months). This difference approached, but was notstatistically significant (p=0.055).Conclusion: This is the first study to show associationbetween CA 19-9 and stage of disease in GBC. At present,CA 19-9 and CA 242 cannot be recommended as prognosticmarkers. However, role of CA 242 needs to be examined ina larger cohort of patients of GBC to establish its usefulness.