PRESENCE OF ELEVATED CARCINOEMBRYONIC ANTIGEN ON ABSORBENT DISKS APPLIED TO NIPPLE AREA OF BREAST-CARCINOMA PATIENTS

BACKGROUND. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is used as a serum marker t o detect and monitor the status of various kinds of malignant tumors. To determine whether CEA might be detected in secretions collected top ically from around the nipple area, and whether its secretion might di ffer in a cancerous versus a noncancerous breast, we developed a simpl e method for collecting and measuring CEA, using a small cellulose mem brane disk and an enzyme immunoassay. METHODS. We measured the amount of CEA excreted from the nipple area of 22 healthy control women and 3 2 women with unilateral breast carcinoma confirmed histologically. Sec retions were collected from the nipple area by affixing a small (20 mm diameter) absorbent disk made of nitrocellulose membrane backed with filter paper to that area for 24 hours. Substances absorbed by the mem brane were then subjected to an immunoassay for CEA using anti-CEA ant ibodies. RESULTS. In the 22 healthy subjects, a small amount of CEA (0 .6 +/- 0.9 units) was secreted from each nipple, which was equally low regardless of the phase of the menstrual cycle. In contrast, 30 of th e 32 women with breast carcinoma secreted significantly greater amount s of CEA from the cancerous (16.1 +/- 8.2) than the noncancerous (2.0 +/- 2.2) breast. Such a difference (14.1 +/- 8.0) in CEA excretion was not observed in the healthy controls (0 +/- 0). CONCLUSIONS. These fi ndings suggest that such disks may provide a simple and noninvasive me thod of collecting trace molecules, including CEA, in skin secretions around the nipple to evaluate functional disorders of the mammary glan ds, particularly breast carcinoma. Additional studies are indicated in larger groups of women with various stages of breast carcinoma as wel l as with benign breast diseases. (C) 1996 American Cancer Society.