Comparison of CA 72–4 with CA 19–9 and Carcinoembryonic Antigen in the Serodiagnostics of Gastrointestinal Malignancies

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Abstract
Serum levels of the new tumor-associated marker CA 72–4 were measured in healthy controls (n = 64) and patients with benign (n = 410) or malignant (n = 199) gastrointestinal diseases. A cut-off limit of 4 U/ml was established. Tumor-indicating sensitivity was compared with that of the conventional markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA 19–9. In serodiagnostic evaluations CA 72–4 was clearly inferior to CA 19–9 in pancreatic carcinomas (22% versus 82%; all stages) and to CEA in colorectal cancer (32% versus 58%; all stages), with no appreciable diagnostic gain from combined determination. However, in gastric carcinoma CA 72–4 identified 59% of all patients (CA 19–9, 52%; CEA, 25%), and a combination of CA 72–4 and CA 19–9 detected as many as 70%. Positive results correlated roughly with tumor size. Compared with the other two tumor markers, CA 72–4 had a very high specificity (98%) in benign diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including inflammatory processes, so that elevated serum levels of CA 72–4 should always be taken seriously.