title: Diagnostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen and carcinoma antigen 19-9 for colorectal carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) with the tumor markers Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) and Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), in addition to investigating whether CA 19-9 can be used to screen the disease process in patients with CRC who had no elevation of CEA levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum levels of CEA and CA 19-9 were measured in: 138 patients with CRC; 111 patients with benign colorectal diseases. The diagnostic value was performed using the logistic regression equation and receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum levels of CEA and CA 19-9 in the patients with CRC were significantly higher than those in the patients with benign colorectal diseases (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) in the patients with CRC versus those with benign colorectal disease yielded the optimal cut-off value of 3.36 ng/ml for CEA and 23.9 U/ml for CA 19-9, respectively. The area under ROC curve (AUC) was 0.789 for CEA, 0.690 for CA 19-9 and 0.900 for the combination of the two tumor markers. The combination resulted in a higher Youden index and a sensitivity of 85.3%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combined detection of serum CEA and CA 19-9 could play a pivotal role in the diagnosis of CRC, and could drastically improve the sensitivity for the diagnosis of CRC. CA 19-9 might be a tumor biomarker in addition to CEA for CRC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Affiliated Fuding Hospital, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuding 355200, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Affiliated Fuding Hospital, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuding 355200, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Affiliated Fuding Hospital, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Fuding 355200, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Bing
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012002:Rectal Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen
keywords: Carcinoembryonic antigen; carbohydrate antigen 19-9; colorectal carcinoma; sensitivity; specificity