title: A cross-sectional study of tumor markers during normal and high-risk pregnancies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine tumor marker concentrations during normal and high-risk pregnancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present cross-sectional study included women attending the gynecology outpatient department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, between November 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013. Their serum was assayed for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 251 pregnant women and 31 nonpregnant women were included. Median CEA value was lower among pregnant women than among nonpregnant women (1.2μg/L vs 1.4μg/L; P=0.006), whereas that of CA15-3 was higher (16.7U/mL vs 12.3U/mL; P=0.03). CA19-9 concentration was higher among pregnant women aged 25-29years (7.0U/mL) or 30-34years (7.2U/mL) than among those aged 20-24years (4.2U/mL; P=0.01 for both). The CA15-3 level was increased during the second (13.0U/mL) and third (60.5U/mL) trimesters compared with the first trimester (9.5U/mL) (P≤0.01 for both comparisons). It was also raised in high-risk pregnancies (33.7U/mL), specifically pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (39.7U/mL), intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (64.3U/mL), or heart disease (54.0U/mL) (P<0.05 for all).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CA15-3 concentrations rise during pregnancy, but whether this increase can be attributed to physiological changes in breast tissue needs to be investigated further.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Jai B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Subhadra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Electronic address: usha_doc@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Usha
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sunesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Asok K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002780:Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000097:blood*; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters / Q000097:blood; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D018396:Mucin-1
keywords: Cancer antigen 15–3 (CA15-3); Cancer antigen 19–9 (CA19-9); Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA); High-risk pregnancy; Pregnancy; Tumor markers