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. 2017 May 17:9:1179299X17710016.
doi: 10.1177/1179299X17710016. eCollection 2017.

Correlation Between Preoperative Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Levels and Expression on Pancreatic and Rectal Cancer Tissue

L S F Boogerd  1 , F A Vuijk  1 , C E S Hoogstins  1 , H J M Handgraaf  1 , M J M van der Valk  1 , P J K Kuppen  1 , C F M Sier  1 , C J H van de Velde  1 , J Burggraaf  2 , A Fariña-Sarasqueta  3 , Alexander L Vahrmeijer  1
Affiliations

Correlation Between Preoperative Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Levels and Expression on Pancreatic and Rectal Cancer Tissue

L S F Boogerd et al. Biomark Cancer. .

Abstract

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-targeted imaging and therapeutic agents are being tested in clinical trials. If CEA overexpression in malignant tissue corresponds with elevated serum CEA, serum CEA could assist in selecting patients who may benefit from CEA-targeted agents. This study aims to assess the relationship between serum CEA and CEA expression in pancreatic (n = 20) and rectal cancer tissues (n = 35) using histopathology. According to local laboratory standards, a serum CEA >3 ng/mL was considered elevated. In pancreatic cancer patients a significant correlation between serum CEA and percentage of CEA-expressing tumor cells was observed (P = .04, ρ = .47). All 6 patients with homogeneous CEA expression in the tumor had a serum CEA >3 ng/mL. Most rectal cancer tissues (32/35) showed homogeneous CEA expression, independent of serum CEA levels. This study suggests that selection of pancreatic cancer patients for CEA-targeted agents via serum CEA appears adequate. For selection of rectal cancer patients, serum CEA levels are not informative.

Keywords: CEACAM5; Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; biomarker; fluorescence imaging; pancreas; rectum.

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Conflict of interest statement

DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative example of HE and CEA staining of pancreatic cancer tissue. CEA expression of tumor (T) tissue compared with adjacent normal (N) pancreatic tissue, derived from a patient with a preoperative serum CEA level <3ng/mL (A) and >3ng/mL (B) magnification 1x and 10x). The magnified image in (A) shows moderate CEA expression on the luminal side of neoplastic glands, while tumor tissue in image (B) shows an intense, circumferential CEA expression. The adjacent normal acini do not stain positive. CEA indicates carcinoembryonic antigen; HE, hematoxylin-eosin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representative example of HE and CEA staining of rectal cancer tissue. CEA expression of tumor tissue (T) compared with adjacent normal (N) rectal tissue, derived from a patient with a preoperative serum CEA level <3gn/mL (A) and >3 ng/mL (B) magnification 1x and 10x). Both tumor tissues (A and B) show an intense, circumferential CEA expression, independent of the preoperative serum CEA level. Normal epithelium shows weak expression. CEA indicates carcinoembryonic antigen; HE, hematoxylin-eosin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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