title: Carcinoembryonic antigen and head and neck cancer.
abstract: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) concentrations were determined in the sera of 45 patients with a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and of 13 controls. In 13 patients serial CEA measurements were made during the follow-up period. In 38% of the patients the serum CEA level was slightly elevated (greater than or equal to 2.5 ng/ml). Only 13% of the patients had clearly elevated CEA levels (greater than 5 ng/ml). CEA levels were significantly higher in patients with advanced, e.g. stage IV, disease but a correlation between serum CEA concentration and prognosis was not found. Patients who smoked had significantly higher serum CEA levels than non-smoking patients. In the serial determinations slight CEA elevations could be found in only 50% of patients with tumour recurrence. Combined with the data from the literature we conclude that serum CEA determination is not useful in predicting the outcome in patients with a head and neck squamous carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Free University Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Laarman
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: van Kamp
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Balm
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Braakhuis
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Snow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen