Carcinoembryonic antigen in effusions. A diagnostic adjunct to cytology.

A total of 189 effusion specimens (100 benign and 89 malignant) submitted for cytologic examination were assayed for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) by an enzyme immunoassay to determine whether the addition of CEA evaluation to cytologic study would improve the diagnostic accuracy for the detection of malignancy. The sensitivity and specificity were 78% and 90%, respectively, for a cytologic diagnosis of malignancy and 68% and 99%, respectively, for a positive CEA (greater than 5 ng/mL). CEA assay was negative in the most common epithelial malignancies of the female genital tract (15 of 17 cases), mesotheliomas (5), lymphomas (7) and alveolar-cell carcinoma of lung (1). CEA assay was positive in 55 of 89 cases of malignancy, including 14 cases with cytologically negative malignant effusions. The CEA assay sensitivity for lung carcinoma (95% for adenocarcinoma, 100% for oat-cell carcinoma and 100% for carcinosarcoma), breast carcinoma (95%), and gastrointestinal carcinoma (100%) were all over 90%. No significant difference in the levels of CEA was noted between gastrointestinal and lung adenocarcinomas. Oat-cell carcinomas and squamous-cell carcinomas had lower values. In cases of an effusion with an unknown primary, an elevated CEA in the fluid is diagnostic of metastatic carcinoma arising from the breast, lung or gastrointestinal tract.