[Routine use of serial plasmatic CA 15-3 determinations during the follow-up of patients treated for breast cancer. Evaluation as factor of early diagnosis of recurrence].
OBJECTIVE
at our institution, CA 15-3 assays are routinely used for the early diagnosis of recurrence during the follow-up of patients treated for breast cancer, although published guidelines do not recommend this procedure. So, we decided to totally re-assess the usefulness of this policy.


METHODS
all records of patients presenting a first recurrence, local (50 cases) or metastatic (88 cases), of breast cancer during 2003 were re-examined. An increase in CA 15-3 concentration of more than 25% was considered significant.


RESULTS
an increase was observed in 18% of non metastatic recurrences. These increases had a prognostic value. CA 15-3 levels remained stable in 23% of metastasis cases and increased in 77%. In 14% of cases, the increase in CA 15-3 levels confirmed a clinically or radiologically suspected metastasis. Moreover, increased CA 15-3 levels in the absence of suggestive clinical or radiological signs led to the diagnosis in 18% of metastasis, 50% of which involved the bone.


CONCLUSIONS
our study demonstrates that CA 15-3 is useful for the early diagnosis of recurrence. Eighteen per cent of metastases were diagnosed by a marker increase alone. CA 15-3 assays could be useful in the early management of these metastases in patients treated for breast cancer.
Chourin
S
S
Laboratoire de biologie clinique, Centre Henri-Becquerel, Rouen.
Veyret
C
C
Chevrier
A
A
Loeb
A
A
Gray
C
C
Basuyau
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011379:Prognosis
D018396:Mucin-1