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. 2013 Sep;10(3):148-57.
doi: 10.7497/j.issn.2095-3941.2013.03.005.

Comparative study of CEA and CA19-9 in esophageal, gastric and colon cancers individually and in combination (ROC curve analysis)

Bhawna Bagaria  1 , Sadhna Sood  1 , Rameshwaram Sharma  2 , Soniya Lalwani  3
Affiliations

Comparative study of CEA and CA19-9 in esophageal, gastric and colon cancers individually and in combination (ROC curve analysis)

Bhawna Bagaria et al. Cancer Biol Med. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the clinical serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), individually and in combination, for the diagnosis of 50 healthy subjects and 150 cases of esophageal, gastric, and colon cancers.

Methods: The sensitivities of the two markers were compared individually and in combination, with specificity set at 100%. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted.

Results: Serum CEA levels were significantly higher in cancer patients than in the control group. The sensitivity of CEA was determined: in esophageal cancer, sensitivity=28%, negative predictive value (NPV)=61.72%, and AUC=0.742 (SE=0.05), with a significance level of P<0.0001; in gastric cancer, sensitivity=30%, NPV=58.82%, and AUC=0.734 (SE=0.05), with a significance level of P<0.0001; in colon cancer, sensitivity=74%, NPV=79.36%, and AUC=0.856 (SE=0.04), with a significance level of P<0.0001. The sensitivity of CA19-9 was also evaluated: in esophageal cancer, sensitivity=18%, NPV=54.94%, and AUC=0.573 (SE =0.05), with a significance level of P=0.2054. In gastric cancer, sensitivity=42%, NPV=63.29%, and AUC=0.679 (SE =0.05), with a significance level of P<0.0011. In colon cancer, sensitivity=26%, NPV=57.47%, and AUC=0.580 (SE =0.05), with a significance level of P=0.1670. The following were the sensitivities of CEA/CA19-9 combined: in esophageal cancer, sensitivity=42%, NPV=63.29%, SE=0.078 (95% CI: 0.0159-0.322); gastric cancer, sensitivity=58%, NPV=70.42%, SE=0.072 (95% CI: -0.0866-0.198); and colon cancer, sensitivity=72%, NPV=78.12%, SE=0.070 (95% CI: 0.137-0.415).

Conclusion: CEA exhibited the highest sensitivity for colon cancer, and CA19-9 exhibited the highest sensitivity for gastric cancer. Combined analysis indicated an increase in diagnostic sensitivity in esophageal and gastric cancer compared with that in colon cancer.

Keywords: Carcinoembryonic antigen; Receiver operating characteristic curve; carbohydrate antigen 19-9, human; sensitivity and specificity.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflicts of interest are disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CEA+CA19-9 ROC in esophagus cancer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
CEA+CA19-9 in gastric cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
CEA+CA19-9 in colon cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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