Tate H
Br J Cancer. 1982 Sep;46(3):323-30. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1982.207.
This paper reports the findings of the M.R.C., study into the use of the plasma CEA test for early detection of recurrence following "successful" surgery for colorectal carcinoma. This study was set up in 1973, and represents the largest series of patients published on this topic. It was primarily prospective, 468 patients being entered at the time of, or after the initial diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma. Follow-up was for at least 2 years, and both initially and throughout the follow-up the clinician treating the patient was kept "blind" to the patient's plasma CEA level. The general conclusion is that the CEA test provides a useful additional tool for the early detection of recurrence in these patients. Sixty-five per cent of patients with recurrence showed a raised plasma CEA level, and over half the patients who developed recurrence had a raised level some time before the disease was detected by other means. A surprising number of patients had a raised CEA level on a single occasion which subsequently returned to normal at the next follow-up and did not seem to be associated with malignancy. The problems associated with this type of study and their limiting effect on interpretation are discussed.
本文报告了医学研究委员会（M.R.C.）关于血浆癌胚抗原（CEA）检测用于结直肠癌“成功”手术后早期复发检测的研究结果。该研究于1973年开展，是关于此主题已发表的最大规模患者系列研究。它主要是前瞻性研究，468例患者在结直肠癌初始诊断时或之后入组。随访至少2年，在初始阶段及整个随访过程中，治疗患者的临床医生对患者的血浆CEA水平均不知情。总体结论是，CEA检测为这些患者早期复发检测提供了一种有用的辅助工具。65%的复发患者血浆CEA水平升高，超过半数复发患者在通过其他手段检测到疾病之前的一段时间CEA水平就已升高。有相当数量的患者单次CEA水平升高，随后在下次随访时恢复正常，且似乎与恶性肿瘤无关。本文还讨论了这类研究相关的问题及其对结果解读的限制作用。
