Abstract
In 98 patients affected by colorectal cancer (43 patients with colon cancer, 55 patients with rectosigmoid cancer) the specificity of some tumor markers (CEA, GICA, TPA, α-FP, FpA, γ-GT) has been tested in evidencing the coexistence of liver metastases and the site of the primary tumor, i.e. the rectosigmoid region (rectum + 15 cm of the adjacent sigmoid colon) vs the rest of the colon. Liver metastases, present in 19 patients with colon cancer and in 24 with recto-sigmoid cancer, were previously ascertained by various instrumental investigations.
Unlike previous studies which indicated CEA or α-FP as the most reliable markers to suggest the coexistence of liver metastases in such patients, the reported results allow the following sequence, in decreasing order of sensitivity, to be proposed: gg-GT; FpA; CEA and GICA to a similar degree; TPA, which increases only when liver metastases from colon cancer are present; lastly, α-FP, which rises only in very few cases of massive hepatic involvement.
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Abbasciano, V., Levato, F. & Zavagli, G. Specificity of tumor markers (CEA, GICA, TPA, α-FP, FpA, γ-GT) for the diagnosis of hepatic metastases from large bowel cancers. Med. Oncol. & Tumor Pharmacother. 6, 129–132 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02985235
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02985235