title: CA 242, a new tumour marker for pancreatic cancer: a comparison with CA 19-9, CA 50 and CEA.
abstract: The serum expression of a novel tumour marker, CA 242, defined by monoclonal antibody C 242, was studied in 179 patients with pancreatic cancer. The results were compared with CA 19-9, CA 50 and CEA. CA 242 is a carbohydrate closely related, but not identical, to CA 19-9 and CA 50. The overall sensitivity of the CA 242 assay was 74%: 55% in stage I, 83% in stage II-III and 78% in stage IV disease. The specificity calculated from 112 patients with benign diseases was 91%. CA 19-9 had a higher sensitivity of 83%, but the specificity was only 81%. When comparing the markers by receiver operating characteristic analysis, the sensitivities were almost identical at all specificity levels. The CA 242 level was elevated in 7%, 15% and 7% of patients with benign pancreatic, biliary and liver disease respectively. The corresponding figures for CA 19-9 were 19%, 28% and 15% respectively. The sensitivity of CA 242 was higher than that of CA 50 and CEA at all specificity levels. In conclusion, tumour marker CA 242 seems to be a useful diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, and is an alternative to CA 19-9. The advantage of CA 242 over CA 19-9 is its higher specificity when using the recommended cut-off levels of the assays.
authors.affiliation: Fourth Department of Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haglund
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lundin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kuusela
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000097:blood*; D001660:Biliary Tract Diseases / Q000097:blood; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000097:blood; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000097:blood; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C074601:CA 242 antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D001663:Bilirubin