title: CA 50 compared with CA 19-9 as a serum tumour marker for pancreatic carcinoma.
abstract: This study compared the sensitivity and specificity of CA 50 and CA 19-9 as serum tumour markers for pancreatic cancer. One hundred and seventy one subjects were evaluated: 50 healthy controls, 50 patients with pancreatic carcinoma and 71 patients with chronic pancreatitis. Eighty per cent of the pancreatic cancer patients had raised CA 19-9 serum levels and 82% had raised CA 50 serum levels. In the group of patients ith chronic pancreatitis, false positive tests occurred in 8.4% for CA 19-9 and 11.3% for CA 50. For both markers the serum level showed a severe elevation in the advanced stage of cancer disease. Despite the good sensitivity and specificity of CA 50 as a serum tumour marker for pancreatic carcinoma, no major advantage was found compared to CA 19-9. Moreover, if the CA 50 cut-off, level is raised to 85 U/ml to exclude overlap with chronic pancreatitis, sensitivity falls sharply to 46% compared with 72% for CA 19-9 when a 100 U/ml cut-off level is used.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Semeiotica Chirurgica, Università di Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pasquali
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sperti
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: D'Andrea
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Costantino
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Filipponi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pedrazzoli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D018267:Carcinoma, Acinar Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003536:Cystadenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; C082699:CA-50 antigen