Titration of serum CEA, p53 antibodies and CEA-IgM complexes in patients with colorectal cancer

Abstract

The early detection of colorectal cancer is key to the improvement of patient survival. Although fecal occult blood testing and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in serum are widely used as non-invasive screening methods, they have limited sensitivity. Forty-five patients who underwent surgery for primary colorectal cancer were enrolled in this study. Sixteen (36%) were determined to have Stage I tumors, 15 (33%) Stage II tumors and 14 (31%) Stage III tumors. Serum samples from a non-colorectal cancer group of 22 patients with no tumors were analyzed as a control. In each serum sample, CEA, p53 antibodies and CEA-IgM complexes were measured. The combination of these three tests had an overall sensitivity of 53% (24/45), and revealed 31% (5/16) of the tumors to be in Stage I, 53% (8/15) to be in Stage II and 79% (11/14) to be in Stage III, while the false positive rate was 18% (4/22). The combined use of these three tests in serum is potentially an effective screening method for the detection of colorectal cancer, at even the early stages of the disease.