Evaluation of five glycoprotein tumour markers (CEA, CA-50, CA-19-9, CA-125, CA-15-3) for the prognosis of renal-cell carcinoma

Abstract

Increased levels of glycoprotein tumour markers have been observed in sera of patients with renal-cell carcinoma. Five different glycoprotein markers [carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA-50, CA-19-9, CA-125 and CA-15-3] were assessed in 154 consecutive patients with renal-cell carcinoma before initiation of therapy. To evaluate their prognostic information, the serum tumour markers were compared with tumour stage and grade. Actuarial survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the prognostic significance of the markers. Elevated serum levels were found for all markers tested except for CEA. For CA-125 and for CA-15-3, elevated serum levels were correlated to clinical stage and tumour grade. For patients with elevated CA-125, survival time was significantly shorter than for patients with normal CA-125 levels. Using the Cox proportional-hazard model, we identified clinical stage, tumour grade and serum CA-125 as independent prognostic factors. Serum CA-125 and CA-15-3 may be useful as an adjunct in the staging of renal-cell carcinoma. CA-125 also gives prognostic information and might be of predictive value in renal-cell carcinoma.