title: Tumor cytosol carcinoembryonic antigen as prognostic parameter in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) belongs to a family of cell surface glycoproteins. Its level in serum has a significant value for the follow-up and treatment of patients with malignancies. The aim of this study was to correlate the concentration of tumor cytosol CEA (cCEA) with tumor size, patient age and sex, clinical stage, lymph node metastases, and overall survival rate in primary non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  The cCEA levels were determined in 76 NSCLC patients by luminescence assay (LIA) and radioimmunoassay (RIA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A strong correlation between LIA and RIA assay results was found (r = 0.992). No correlation was observed between serum CEA and cCEA levels. Tumors smaller than 3 cm had significantly higher cCEA levels than larger tumors, but when a logistic modeling process was applied this difference was not significant (P = 0.038). Histologically well-differentiated tumors also showed a significantly higher expression of cCEA (P <0.05). In addition, patients without lymph node involvement had higher cCEA levels than patients with tumor-positive lymph nodes (P < 0.05). Univariate statistical analysis revealed that the risk of lymph node metastases was 1.8-fold higher in patients with low cCEA levels than in patients with higher levels, taking the median value as cutoff (P = 0.04, Kruskal-Wallis test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the results of our study, patients with overexpression of cCEA may have a better prognosis than those with low cCEA expression. cCEA might therefore be considered a good prognostic parameter as well as a prognostic factor independent of the traditional parameters for lymph node metastases.
authors.affiliation: Research Center, 12 de Octubre University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. centexp@h12o.es
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vegh
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sotelo
authors.forename: Juana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Estenoz
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fontanellas
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Millán
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Enríquez de Salamanca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D003600:Cytosol / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen