Serum values of CA72.4 in patients with gastrointestinal system tumors comparison with CEA and CA 19.9.

Serum CA 72.4 levels of patients with malignant gastrointestinal disorders (n = 77) were determined in parallel with the CEA and CA 19.9 levels. The values related to healthy individuals were 1.7 U/ml, with a median of 1.7 U/ml, whereas an average of 12.1 U/l (median 2 U/ml) was measured in malignancy. Among all three markers CEA showed the highest positive rate while the values for CA 19.9 and CA 72.4 were lower. Although positive rates among the healthy group were observed with CEA and CA 19.9, no false positives were found with CA 72.4. Elevated CA 72.4 levels were found in 17.6% of patients with gastric carcinoma and 56.3% with colorectal carcinoma. All markers showed significant sensitivity for the malignant state when used alone. However, the regression analysis revealed that only the combination of CA 72.4 and CEA may contribute significantly to the diagnostic potential. Our results indicate that complementation of CEA with CA 72.4 can significantly increase the sensitivity in the serodiagnosis of gastrointestinal system cancers. Combination of positive information from these two sources is likely to lead to a more accurate diagnosis and may therefore improve the efficiency of the follow-up and therapeutic response.