CA-15-3 VALUE AND NEOPLASTIC DISEASE PREDICTIVITY IN THE FOLLOW-UP FOR BREAST-CANCER

The role of CA 15-3 in breast cancer has been widely studied by severa l authors. This study was designed to describe the predictivity of CA 15-3 determinations for the metastasis or second primary tumor in pati ents subjected to follow-up for breast cancer. All the 1,123 determina tions of CA 15-3 carried out during 1991 in a hospital laboratory were analyzed. By cross-matching anagraphic items of patients with clinica l data from different hospital databases, it was possible to reconstru ct the clinical history. At the cutoff point of 40 U/ml, the positive predictive value of the CA 15-3 was 99.4%. This study shows the very c lose association between CA 15-3 Predictivity greater than or equal to 40.0 U/ml and disease, suggesting a careful restaging when Specificit y the marker increases without clinical evidence of metastases. Cutoff point Hormonal treatment should also be considered.