The study of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) value of patients in Udon Thani Cancer Hospital

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is a common cancer in Thailand. It is one of significant causes of death and has tendency to increase. Serum Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is widely accepted to use as a tumor marker for colorectal cancer because it has high level and is frequently found in colorectal cancer more than other cancers. The aim of this report was to study the correlation between Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and colorectal cancer among patients who had complete laboratory data in Udon Thani Cancer Hospital using the data from computerized records of the laboratory information system (LIS) from January 2012-December 2015. There were 781 participants. They were classified into 683 without colorectal cancer and 98 with colorectal cancer groups. The averaged serum CEA level was 135.81 ng/mL in patients with colorectal cancer that was higher than 3.99 ng/mL of non- colorectal cancer group with statistical significance (p value<0.05).  The factors including sex, age, body mass index (BMI), the history of cancer in the family, smoking, alcohol consumption, serum CEA and fecal occult blood test had significant correlation with colorectal cancer i.e. (p value < 0.05). No Significant correlation between raw food consumption and colorectal cancer. For patients with colorectal cancer, there was significant correlation between serum CEA and stage of cancer. To find the value of CEA for predicting the colorectal cancer, the area under the curve (ROC) of 0.731, 0.761 and 0.624, the cut off value of serum CEA levels at 3.71, 3.79, 4.15 ng/mL had the sensitivity 58.7%, 55.1%, and 48.1% and the specificity 82.5%, 92.9% and 83.3%. The study found the higher average serum CEA levels in patients with colorectal cancer than those without colorectal cancer with statistical significance. Moreover, there was significant relationship between serum CEA levels and stages of cancer. The appropriate cut off values of CEA could be helpful to diagnose, surveil, find out and to predict the colorectal cancer. However it must be used in combination with the patient history, the physical examination and other investigations for evaluating the patients before the treatment for the benefit of the patients.