ABSTRACT
Pretreatment serum concentrations of breast carcinoma antigen (CA 15.3) and mucin-like carcinoma-associated antigen (MCA) were determined in 129 patients with breast carcinoma. Concentrations of both markers were within the normal range in patients with Stage I disease. Concentrations of CA 15.3 were elevated (greater than 40 U/ml) in 3, 11 and 48%, those of MCA (greater than 17 U/ml) in 11, 18 and 52%, and those of one or the other marker in 11, 18 and 58% of the patients with Stage II, III and IV disease, respectively. The elevation of either marker roughly paralleled the size of the tumor being normal in the patients with localized cancer, slightly elevated in a small proportion of the patients with locoregional cancer, and moderately to markedly elevated in half of the patients with distant metastases. Correlation between serum concentrations of CA 15.3 and MCA was highly significant (p less than 0.0001). It is concluded that the markers were equally sensitive and that an elevated serum level was a useful adjunct for staging, implying systemic disease.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Neoplasm/analysis , Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate/analysis , Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Breast Neoplasms/immunology , Carcinoma/immunology , Humans , Neoplasm StagingABSTRACT
By radioimmunoassay the concentration of the CA 19-9 antigen was determined in the serum of 68 patients with large bowel cancer, while the CA 125 antigen was determined in 26 patients with this disease. Both markers were determined with CIS kits. In all, 127 determinations were done. The results were as follows: 1) CA 19-9 concentration increased with disease progression from 21% (in grade I of local-regional progression, A, B, C according to Dukes), through 41% above-normal results in group II (with metastases--Dukes' grade D), to 67% in case of recurrence of the tumor, and to 0% in group IV--with absent recurrence sign after radical surgical intervention. 2) CA 125 is without clinical value in large bowel cancer.