RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (highly specific) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (highly sensitive) have been used as tumour markers for pancreatobiliary cancers. A novel urine tumour marker, diacetylspermine, was compared with the two conventional serum tumour markers in 125 patients with pancreatobiliary diseases. RESULTS: When the diagnosis of benign or malignant condition was examined, the sensitivity of urine diacetylspermine (75%) was higher than that of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (44%; P=0.048) and the same as that of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (75%). The specificity of urine diacetylspermine (81%) was lower than that of serum CEA (92%) and as high as that of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (80%). The efficiency of urine diacetylspermine (79%) was higher than that of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (74%) and the same as that of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (79%). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that urine diacetylspermine is a marker for pancreatobiliary carcinoma, which is as highly sensitive and specific as serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9.