Tissue carcinoembryonic antigen, dysplasia, and disease duration in colonic inflammatory bowel disease.

Tissue carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was studied in five groups of patients: eight ulcerative colitis patients with mild or no dysplasia, five ulcerative colitis patients with severe dysplasia, seven Crohn's disease patients with nondiseased colon, nine Crohn's disease patients with diseased colon, and 18 colorectal cancer patients from the noncancerous colon resection margins. CEA levels were significantly lower in the normal colon Crohn's group than all other groups (p less than 0.05). CEA levels were significantly higher in the severe dysplasia ulcerative colitis group than all other groups (p less than 0.05). The Crohn's disease patients with diseased colon, the ulcerative colitis patients with mild or no dysplasia, and the colorectal cancer group with noncancerous colon all had similar intermediate CEA levels.