CA-19-9 AND CARCINOEMBRYONIC ANTIGEN IN G ALLBLADDER CANCER

The aim of this work was to assess the diagnostic yield of serum tumor al markers, Ca 19-9 and carcinoembryonic antigen, in patients with gal lbladder cancer. We studied 54 patients of whom 33 bad gallbladder can cer and in 21 the tumor was removed previously and were presently free of disease. Twenty one patients with cholelithiasis were used as cont rols. Ca 19-9 was over 37 U/ml in 22 (65%) patients with cancer, in tw o patients free of disease and in two controls. The sensitivity and sp ecificity of Ca 19-9 was 0.66 and 0.90 respectively. Carcinoembryonic antigen was over 2.5 ng/ml in 25 patients with cancer (56%) and its se nsitivity and specificity was 0.75 and 0.71 respectively. Using a cuto ff point of 4 ng/ml, these figures were 0.51 and 0.9 respectively. The better predictive capacity was given by a Ca 19-9 over 37 U/ml or a c arcinoembryonic antigen over 4 ng/ml. It is concluded that, although t he sensitivity and specificity of these markers was adequate in this w ork, one must bear in mind that studied patients had advanced tumors.