title: Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the tumor markers CEA, CA 19-9 and CA 72-4 in gastric cancer.
abstract: Pre-surgery serum levels of CA 72-4, CEA and CA 19-9 were quantified by the enzyme immunoassay method in 167 patients with histological diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma and in 92 patients with an endoscopic diagnosis of benign gastric pathology. CA 72-4 showed a better correlation between its serum levels and the different clinical stages of the disease than CEA and CA 19-9. At the individual study of stages I-II, CA 72-4 proved positive in 36.9% of patients while CEA and CA 19-9 appeared positive in 10.8% and 8.6%, respectively. In the ROC curve, at a specificity of 95%, the sensitivities of CA 72-4, CEA and CA 19-9 were 59.8%, 21% and 26.3% respectively. The discriminatory capacity of the test (area under the ROC curve +/- SD) was 0.86 +/- 0.03 in the case of CA 72-4, 0.52 +/- 0.03 for CEA and 0.58 +/- 0.03 for CA 19-9. In conclusion, in our series and with regard to CEA and CA 19-9, CA 72-4 shows better sensitivity and discriminatory capacity. CEA and CA 19-9 do not provide significant benefits when combined with CA 72-4 due to the good results obtained with the later marker alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hospital General del Insalud, Soria, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fernández-Fernández
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tejero
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tieso
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rabadán
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Munoz
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D000368:Aged; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; C083825:CA-72-4 antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen