title: A case of serum CEA disappearance curve after resection of breast carcinoma.
abstract: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) elimination kinetics after tumor resection were measured in a case of breast cancer. A 45-year-old woman with a left breast carcinoma underwent surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The serum CEA level before surgery was 34.3 ng/ml. After sequential monitoring of serum CEA levels, postoperative serum CEA elimination kinetics were calculated using non-linear least square analysis with the fitting equation C(t)=(C0-Cp)exp(-kt)+Cp, where C(t) was the postoperative CEA level, t was the number days after surgery, C0 was the CEA level at postoperative time zero, Cp was the CEA at plateau, and k was the rate constant of elimination. Cp was calculated as 6.9 ng/ml, which was above the cut-off level and indicated residual malignancy. After adjuvant chemotherapy, CEA normalized to 1.8 ng/ml. In breast cancer patients with high preoperative serum CEA levels, our analytical method for CEA elimination might be useful for the detection of residual malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, 811-1 Kimiidera, Wakayama 641-8509, Japan. yositatu@mail.wakayama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshimasu
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oura
authors.forename: Issei
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: Yozo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kokawa
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanino
authors.forename: Teruhisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okamura
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen