Serum carcinoembryonic antigen as an adjunct to preoperative staging of lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether measurement of preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen concentrations adds useful prognostic data to current preoperative staging of lung cancer by computed tomography, bronchoscopy, and mediastinoscopy.


METHODS
A prospective cohort study of 130 consecutive patients was evaluated for suspected lung cancer from July 1991 through December 1992 at a university-affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Serum concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen were measured before diagnosis, staging, or resection of cancer.


RESULTS
Malignant disease was diagnosed by bronchoscopy, needle biopsy, mediastinoscopy, or resection in 111 of 130 patients. In the 50 patients undergoing resection with curative intent, multivariate analysis indicated that carcinoembryonic antigen was a significant predictor of survival independent of patient age, pathologic stage, histologic type, and tumor size (P=.0357).


CONCLUSIONS
Elevated preoperative serum concentrations of carcinoembryonic antigen predict a poor prognosis for lung cancer independent of other conventional staging parameters and have an adjunctive role in the staging of lung cancer.
Rubins
J B
JB
Pulmonary Disease, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis 55417, USA.
Dunitz
J
J
Rubins
H B
HB
Maddaus
M A
MA
Niewoehner
D E
DE
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen