Role of blood tumor markers in predicting metastasis and local recurrence after curative resection of colon cancer.

Aim: To investigate the prognostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA199, CA724 and CA242 in peripheral blood and local draining venous blood in colon cancer patients after curative resection. Methods: 92 colon cancer patients who received curative resection were retrospectively analyzed. The CEA, CA199, CA724 and CA242 were detected in peripheral blood and local draining venous blood. Results: Metastasis or local recurrence was found in 29 (29/92, 31.5%) patients during follow-up period. 92 patients were divided into two groups: metastasis/local recurrence group (n = 29) and non-metastasis/local recurrence group (n = 63). Peripheral venous CEA, CA199, CA724 and CA242 (p-CEA, p-CA199, p-CA724 and p-CA242) were comparable between two groups (P > 0.05). The median draining venous CEA (d-CEA) in metastases/local recurrence group (23.7 ± 6.9 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in non-metastases/local recurrence group (18.1 ± 6.3 ng/ml; P 0.05). The optimal cut-off value of d-CEA was 2.76 ng/ml, with the sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 40% in the prediction of metastasis or local recurrence, respectively. d-CEA correlated with tumor differentiation, T stage, TNM stage, metastasis and local recurrence. Subgroup analysis showed that, of 41 patients with stage II colon cancer, the optimal cut-off value of d-CEA was 8.78 ng/mL, and the sensitivity and specificity were 87.5% and 69.7% in the prediction of metastasis or local recurrence, respectively. Conclusion: d-CEA may be a prognostic factor for stage II colon cancer patients.