[Value of the preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen as an independent prognostic factor in cancer of the colon and rectum].

The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has diverse applications when dealing with patients with colon-rectal cancer. The clinical value may be divided between preoperative evaluation of the tumor extension and its prognosis and the postoperative monitoring of the recurrence. We carried out this study to investigate and determine whether there is a relation between the preoperative value of the CEA and survival and if it may be considered as an independent prognosis factor in colon-rectal cancer. We evaluated 122 patients with colon-rectal cancer, who had had curative surgery and we analyzed different variables in univaried and multivaried form, to determine independent prognosis factors (CEA, sex, age, degree of differentiation, tumor size, ganglionar compromise, and the level of wall infiltration). The ganglionar compromise, the level of intestine wall infiltration and the CEA preoperative value lower than 5 ng/ml had a significantly higher survival than those with values higher than 5 ng/ml, regardless of other factors. We concluded that the preoperative determination of Carcinoembryonic Antigen represents a non-invasive study clinically useful in dealing with colon-rectal cancer and that its value has a significant statistical value as an independent prognosis factor in colon-rectal patient survival.