title: Significance of CA72.4 in patients with colorectal cancer. Comparison with CEA and CA19.9.
abstract: CA72.4 is a new tumor-associated antigen identified by monoclonal antibodies cc49 and B72.3. Serum levels of CA72.4 were measured in patients with benign and malignant diseases. The cut-off used was 4 U/mL. CA72.4 is a highly specific marker since only 3% of 162 patients with benign diseases had elevated levels of antigen. Forty-four percent of 89 patients with colorectal cancer had elevated CA72.4 levels. Compared with CEA and CA19.9, we have found that CEA (75%) is the most sensitive marker (p less than 0.001). The simultaneous use of two or three markers did not further contribute to the evaluation of patients with colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Hospital Clínic i Provincial, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Filella
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Mengual
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ballesta
mesh_terms: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000032:analysis*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen