Carcinoembryonic antigen level of draining venous blood as a predictor of recurrence in colorectal cancer patient.
OBJECTIVE
We designed this study to evaluate the efficacy of carcinoembryonic antigen in draining venous blood (vCEA) as a predictor of recurrence.


METHODS
Draining venous and supplying arterial bloods were collected separately during the operation of 82 colorectal cancer patients without distant metastasis from September 2004 to December 2006. Carcinoembryonic antigen was measured and assessed for the efficacy as a prognostic factor of recurrence using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier curves.


RESULTS
vCEA is a statistically significant factor that predicts recurrence (P = 0.032) and the optimal cut-off value for vCEA from ROC curve is 8.0 ng/mL. The recurrence-free survival between patients with vCEA levels >8 ng/mL and ≤8 ng/mL significantly differed (P < 0.001). The significance of vCEA as a predictor of recurrence gets higher when limited to patients without lymph node metastasis. The proper cut-off value for vCEA is 4.0 ng/mL if confined to patients without lymph node metastasis. The recurrence-free survival between the patients of vCEA levels >4 ng/mL and ≤4 ng/mL significantly differed (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed vCEA is an independent prognostic factor in patients without lymph node metastasis.


CONCLUSIONS
vCEA is an independent prognostic factor of recurrence in colorectal cancer patients especially in patients without lymph node metastases.
Department of Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Soo Young
SY
Lee
Kyung Sun
KS
Min
Jung Kee
JK
Chung
In Mok
IM
Jung
Young Joon
YJ
Ahn
Ki-Tae
KT
Hwang
Hye Seong
HS
Ahn
Seung Chul
SC
Heo