Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Amniotic Fluid

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Abstract
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a substance which occurs in high amounts in the fetal gut and also in certain tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, was demonstrated in amniotic fluids from different stages of pregnancy. Radioimmunoassays of CEA in amniotic fluids of 91 normal pregnancies showed a decrease from a mean of 53 ng/ml at 19 wk to 25 ng/ml at the end of gestation. The CEA activity in amniotic fluid was eluted in the same volume as a standard 125I-CEA on a Sephadex G200 column. Amniotic fluid contained CEA similar in MW to the CEA purified from liver metastases of colonic cancer. Among 17 cases of abnormal pregnancies, CEA elevations were observed in 5 with anomalous fetuses.