title: The characteristics of the serum carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels in gastric cancer cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 are the most commonly used tumor markers in gastric cancer, the differences in the characteristics of these two markers remain unclear, because most previous studies have included many patients who were positive for both markers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the available data on 1050 patients with gastric cancer who underwent R0 resection. The background characteristics and recurrence-free survivals (RFS) were compared between the single-positive patients for CEA or CA 19-9 and double-negative patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among these 1050 patients, 86 patients (8.2 %) were positive for CEA only, 77 patients (7.3 %) were positive for CA 19-9 only, and 867 patients (82.6 %) were double negative for both markers. Patients who were elderly, male and had a differentiated histology were more commonly observed in the CEA-positive group than in the double-negative group (P = 0.004, P = 0.009, and P = 0.001). The patients who were positive for either CEA or CA 19-9 had a significantly worse RFS than the patients who were negative for both (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001). The most frequent site of recurrence was the liver (9.3 %) in the CEA-positive group and the peritoneum (11.7 %) in the CA 19-9-positive group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age, sex, and histological type were thus found to be associated with CEA positivity. CEA is, therefore, considered to be a sensitive marker for liver recurrence, while CA 19-9 is a sensitive marker for peritoneal recurrence.
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Noriko
authors: N
authors: Wada
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. ykurokawa@gesurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp.
authors: Yukinori
authors: Y
authors: Kurokawa
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Yasuhiro
authors: Y
authors: Miyazaki
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Tomoki
authors: T
authors: Makino
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Tsuyoshi
authors: T
authors: Takahashi
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Yamasaki
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Kiyokazu
authors: K
authors: Nakajima
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Shuji
authors: S
authors: Takiguchi
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Masaki
authors: M
authors: Mori
authors: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2-E2, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors: Yuichiro
authors: Y
authors: Doki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010537:Peritoneum; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen
keywords: CA 19-9; CEA; Gastric cancer