title: The potential utility of serum CA 72-4 as a marker for stage IV esophageal adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus has one of the fastest growing incidence rates of all cancers. The treatment and the prognosis of these patients depend mainly on the clinical stage of their disease. The purpose of this study was to see if CA72-4 can potentially be used as a marker for staging advanced esophageal adenocarcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled a consecutive sample of 21 patients with biopsy-proven esophageal adenocarcinoma. Serum CA72-4 was then obtained from all patients and compared to the clinical stage of these patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CA 72-4 at cut-off value of > or = 7 U/ml has a high diagnostic performance in detecting stage IV esophageal adenocarcinoma: sensitivity (86%), specificity (93%), NPV(0.93), PPV(0.86), LR+ (12), LR- (0.15), and AUC of 8.5 (CI; 0.62-1.0).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinicians may use serum CA72-41 levels as a predictor of stage IV disease. It may also have utility in reassessing the likelihood of metastatic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, USA.
authors.forename: Basile
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Njei
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Birk
authors.forename: Haleh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vaziri
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C083825:CA-72-4 antigen