Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in blood serum of patients with bone marrow transplantation

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a potentially life-saving procedure that is used to treat a variety of malignant diseases. The most severe life-threatening complication of BMT is graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). It’s main target organs are skin, liver and gastrointestinal tract. Usually the diagnosis of GVHD is based on results of clinical, biochemical, and histological data. The latter are the most objective. However, biopsies are invasive and possibly endangering immunodeficient and pancytopenic patients. Therefore the search for new, noninvasive methods to monitor patients after BMT is of great importance.