Carcinoembryonic antigen in cervical cancer: a five-year follow-up.

Serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were determined radioimmunologically before initiation of therapy in the serum of 142 patients suffering from carcinoma of the uterine cervix. The overall incidence of elevated CEA levels (above 12 ng/ml) was 39%. There was a positive correlation between the incidence of elevated CEA levels and the clinical stage of the disease. CEA levels before treatment had no prognostic value in patients matched for stage as far as median survival time was concerned. In contrast, CEA levels measured immediately after therapy in patients with initially elevated levels acquired prognostic significance. Thus, CEA measurements appear to be an additional tool in the follow-up of patients with cervical cancer.