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Annals of Surgical Oncology
Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology 7/2015

01-07-2015 | Hepatobiliary Tumors

Concordance of Carcinoembryonic Antigen Ratio and Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors as Prognostic Surrogate Indicators of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated with Chemotherapy

Authors: Sheng-Chieh Huang, MD, Jen-Kou Lin, PhD, Tzu-Chen Lin, MD, Wei-Shone Chen, MD, Shung-Haur Yang, MD, Huann-Sheng Wang, MD, Yuan-Tzu Lan, PhD, Chun-Chi Lin, MD, Jeng-Kai Jiang, PhD, Shih-Ching Chang, PhD

Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology | Issue 7/2015

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Abstract

Background

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is widely used as a tumor marker in colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aimed to evaluate the role of the degree of change in CEA levels during the treatment period and found that the degree of change highly correlated with disease survival and Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria in evaluating therapy response.

Methods

A total of 447 metastatic CRC patients treated with surgery of the primary tumor followed by systemic therapy at a single center from the year 2000 through 2011 were reviewed. The degree of change in CEA levels was expressed as the CEA ratio (post-CEA/pre-CEA) and classified into four groups during the treatment period for further evaluation. The imaging change of the same population was also compared with the CEA ratio during the treatment period.

Results

The CEA ratio was significantly correlated with different chemotherapy regimens (p < 0.001), pre-treatment CEA level (p < 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.006), and tumor differentiation (p = 0.018). CEA ratio and imaging change according to RECIST criteria were both correlated with overall survival (p < 0.001). These two methods for evaluating treatment response were highly correlated (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

CEA ratio was found to be a reliable prognostic factor in stage IV CRC, and was highly correlated with the imaging survey according to RECIST criteria. Further prospective studies are essential to validate these findings.
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Metadata
Title
Concordance of Carcinoembryonic Antigen Ratio and Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors as Prognostic Surrogate Indicators of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated with Chemotherapy
Authors
Sheng-Chieh Huang, MD
Jen-Kou Lin, PhD
Tzu-Chen Lin, MD
Wei-Shone Chen, MD
Shung-Haur Yang, MD
Huann-Sheng Wang, MD
Yuan-Tzu Lan, PhD
Chun-Chi Lin, MD
Jeng-Kai Jiang, PhD
Shih-Ching Chang, PhD
Publication date
01-07-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Annals of Surgical Oncology / Issue 7/2015
Print ISSN: 1068-9265
Electronic ISSN: 1534-4681
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-014-4228-y

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