The contribution of the CEA marker to CA 15.3 in the follow-up of breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The clinical use of tumor markers during breast cancer follow-up is still surrounded by controversy. The objective of this study consisted of determining the contribution of the CEA marker to CA 15.3 in the follow-up of breast cancer patients as applied to clinical practice.


METHODS
Three hundred and eighteen cases of women with breast cancer were analyzed retrospectively as far as the sensitivity, the specificity and the positive and negative predictable values of the CA 15.3 and CEA markers.


RESULTS
Of the 318 patients, 59 suffered a relapse during the study. After evaluation of both markers the sensitivity was 56.8% (CA 15.3: 47.4%), the specificity 85.3% (CA 15.3: 88.4%), the positive predictable value was 46.4% (CA 15.3: 48.2%) and the negative predictable value was 89.41% (CA 15.3: 88%).


CONCLUSIONS
The low sensitivity of studied tumor markers proved of limited use on a clinical scale.
Valenzuela
P
P
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Príncipe de Asturias" Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
Mateos
S
S
Tello
E
E
López-Bueno
M J
MJ
Garrido
N
N
Gaspar
M J
MJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000032:analysis*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016019:Survival Analysis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D018396:Mucin-1