TUMOR-ASSOCIATED ANTIGEN CA242 IN PANCREATIC-CANCER - COMPARISON WITHESTABLISHED MARKER SUCH AS CA-19-9

The problem of the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is still unsol ved. In 1985 Lindholm et al. described CA242, a new tumour marker, whi ch was recognized by the MoAb C-242. Because CA242 has been proposed a s a tumour marker for pancreatic diseases, the aim of this study was t o evaluate serum CA242 versus CA19-9. Serum samples of 420 patients we re collected. Samples were taken from patients with pancreatic cancer (N degrees = 72), pancreatitis (N degrees = 108), benign liver disease (N degrees = 240). Moreover healthy blood donors (N degrees = 50) wer e utilized as controls. The sensitivity of CA242 (75.5%) is lower than that of CA19-9 (77.4%) and increased when both tumour markers were us ed in combination, CA 242 plus CA19-9 (79.1%) and CA242 and/or CA19-9 (85.7%). Moreover, we have found that patients with metastasis reveale d mean values of CA242 and CA19-9 higher than in patients without meta stasis. In conclusion our data show that the sensitivity of CA242 is l ower than CA19-9, but its efficiency with a better Positive Predictive Value (PPV) suggest to use this tumour marker in the diagnosis of pan creatic cancer.