Evaluation of CA 242 as a Tumor Marker in Gallbladder Cancer

• Published in: Journal of gastrointestinal cancer 2012-06, Vol.43 (2), p.267-271
• Main Authors: Rana, Surinder, Dutta, Usha, Kochhar, Rakesh, Rana, Satyavati V., Gupta, Rajesh, Pal, Ravinder, Jain, Kapil, Srinivasan, Radhika, Nagi, Birender, Nain, Chander Kant, Singh, Kartar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate - blood; Area Under Curve; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; CA-19-9 Antigen - blood; Cancer Research; Carcinoembryonic Antigen - blood; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Gallbladder Neoplasms - blood; Gastroenterology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Oncology; Original Article; Radiotherapy; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity
• ISSN: 1941-6628; 1941-6636
• DOI: 10.1007/s12029-011-9288-7

Purpose Gallbladder and pancreas share common embryological origin, and malignancies of these organs may share common tumor antigens. CA 242 is a tumor marker for pancreatic cancer, but has not been studied in gallbladder cancer (GBC). We measured serum CA 242 levels in patients with GBC and compared it with those in patients with gallstones (GS) and healthy volunteers. Methods We enrolled consecutive patients with GBC (cases), GS (disease controls), and healthy volunteers (healthy controls). Serum CA 242, CEA, and CA 19–9 levels were measured using ELISA. Receiver operator curve was plotted for all the three markers. Results We studied 117 patients with GBC, 58 with GS, and 10 healthy volunteers. Among patients with GBC, 81 (69%) also had GB calculi. Patients with GBC more often had elevated CA 242 levels (64%) compared to those with GS (17%; p