Prognostic significance of preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen level in lung adenocarcinoma but not squamous cell carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Clinical significance of measurement of preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level in patients with non-small cell lung cancer was investigated.


METHODS
Consecutive 271 adenocarcinoma and 112 squamous cell carcinoma patients of non-small cell lung cancer referred to our institute were included in this study. There were 214 men and 169 women, ages ranged from 19 to 90 years, with an average of 64.46 years. Curative resection was performed for 220 adenocarcinoma and 93 squamous cell carcinoma patients. Serum level of CEA was measured before staging or resection of cancer.


RESULTS
There is a trend toward a correlation between serum CEA level and stage of the diseases, however, serum CEA level was not always related to tumor node metastasis (TNM) status. In patients with adenocarcinoma, survival rate of patients with an elevated serum CEA level was significantly lower than that with a normal serum CEA level. Multivariate analysis showed that prognostic significance of serum CEA level was TNM staging independent in patients with adenocarcinoma. On the other hand, serum CEA level was not related to patients' survival in patients with squamous cell carcinoma.


CONCLUSIONS
Elevated preoperative serum CEA level is a TNM staging independent prognostic factor for patients with adenocarcinoma but not for those with squamous cell carcinoma.
Tomita
Masaki
M
Department of Surgery II, Miyazaki Medical College, Miyazaki, Japan.
Matsuzaki
Yasunori
Y
Edagawa
Masao
M
Shimizu
Tetsuya
T
Hara
Masaki
M
Onitsuka
Toshio
T
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen