CA-72-4 SERUM MARKER - A NEW TOOL IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CARCINOMA PATIENTS

Among the new tumor markers that have been recently proposed, CA 72-4 is of particular interest, not only for its capabilities in diagnosing and monitoring certain neoplastic diseases, but also for its excellen t specificity. Several studies focused on the potential clinical usefu lness of CA 72-4 in gastrointestinal (GI) and gynecological cancer, sh owing a sensitivity of approximately 40% in colorectal and gastric can cer and 50% in ovarian cancer, with an overall specificity of more tha n 95%. Longitudinal evaluations of patients with either GI or gynecolo gical malignant diseases demonstrated that significant elevations of C A 72-4 serum levels may be predictive of recurrent disease. Moreover, the combination of CA 72-4 with other known serum markers, such as CEA and CA 19-9 for GI cancer or CA 125 for ovarian cancer, indicated tha t an increase in the sensitivity can be achieved without substantial c hanges in the overall specificity, improving the possibility of monito ring these patients. In conclusion, these results provide a strong arg ument for the use of CA 72-4 in the management of these neoplastic dis eases.