The Clinical Utility of Plasma and Urinary Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Patients with Genitourinary Disease

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Abstract
Carcinoembryonic antigen was measured in the urine and plasma of 108 patients with several types and various stages of genitourinary cancer. The value of the carcinoembryonic antigen assay as an early indicator of neoplastic disease was evaluated and a correlation was made between the extent of disease and the concentration of urinary and plasma carcinoembryonic antigen. Patients were classified according to stage of tumor involvement as follows: no evidence of disease, nonmalignant disease, noninvasive disease, no known metastases, regional metastases and disseminated metastases. Urinary carcinoembryonic antigen levels more closely paralleled the extent of disease than plasma carcinoembryonic antigen levels in patients with bladder cancer. Neither urinary nor plasma carcinoembryonic antigen levels were useful in assessing the extent of disease in patients with prostatic or testicular cancer. Studies related to microbiological interference in the carcinoembryonic antigen assay indicated that bacterial counts up to 105 organisms/ml did not interfere. Cytological studies indicated that the presence of white blood cells, atypical cells and malignant cells could result in elevated urinary carcinoembryonic antigen levels.