title: Prognostic significance of serum CA 242 in pancreatic cancer. A comparison with CA 19-9.
abstract: The prognostic value of the novel tumour marker CA 242 was studied in 175 patients with pancreatic cancer and the results were compared with those of CA 19-9. Preoperative serum levels of CA 242 and CA 19-9 were determined by commercially available assays. Patients were classified according to UICC TNM-stage, and divided into three groups of resectable, non-resectable and advanced disease. The lowest cut-off levels that divided patients into groups with significant difference in survival were calculated. Patients with resectable disease and preoperative CA 242 below 25 U/ml had a significantly better prognosis than those with a higher level (p < 0.05). The corresponding cut-off values were 100 U/ml in non-resectable (p < 0.05) and 3500 U/ml in advanced disease (p < 0.05). It is noteworthy that the overall survival rate of patients who underwent resection for cure, but had a high preoperative CA 242 level, approached that of patients with non-resectable disease. In multivariate analysis, only resectability (p < 0.0001) and preoperative serum CA 242 level (p = 0.01) were independent prognostic factors. If TNM-stage was used instead of resectability, the results were similar (stage p < 0.0001, CA 242 p = 0.006). When CA 242 was excluded from the model, preoperative serum CA 19-9 level approached the borderline of significance as an independent prognostic factor (p = 0.07). In conclusion, the preoperative serum level of the novel tumour marker CA 242 is an independent prognostic factor in pancreatic cancer. CA 242 yielded more prognostic information than CA 19-9.
authors.affiliation: Fourth Department of Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lundin
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kuusela
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haglund
mesh_terms: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C074601:CA 242 antigen; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen