title: The clinicopathologic features of serum CA 19-9-positive colorectal cancers.
abstract: The preoperative serum levels of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) were determined in 206 patients with colorectal cancer, 52 (25.2%) of whom were found to be positive. All of these patients had advanced cancers and significantly higher incidences of tumor invasion through the muscularis propria (91.3%) and lymph node involvement (54.5%). The incidences of liver metastasis and Dukes' stage D in the CA 19-9-positive group were 38.5% and 42.9%, respectively, significantly higher than those in the CA 19-9-negative group of 6.5% and 14.8%, respectively. Moreover, the incidence of liver metastasis in the CA 19-9-positive group patients with Dukes' stage D cancer was 95.2% (20/21); CA 19-9 showing higher specificity (81.7%) and a more positive predictive value (38.5%) for liver metastasis than the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). When a cutoff value of 160 U/ml was used, the specificity and positive predictive value reached 97.7% and 81.0%, respectively. An analysis of response operating characteristic (ROC) curves for liver metastasis revealed that CA 19-9 was more useful than CEA. The long-term survival of the CA 19-9-positive group patients was significantly worse than that of the CA 19-9-negative group patients (P < 0.0001), with no 1.25-year survivors in the former group when the cutoff value of 160 U/ml was used. These results suggest that serum CA 19-9 as a useful preoperative indicator of liver metastasis and prognosis in colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kobe Rosai Hospital of the Labour Welfare Corporation, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Urakawa
mesh_terms: D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000556:secondary*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen