The Advancement Stage of Gastric Cancer and the Levels of CEA and Ca19-9 in Serum and Peritoneal Lavage

• Published in: Biomedicines 2024-11, Vol.12 (11), p.2584
• Main Authors: Bąk, Michał, Wojciech, Magdalena, Pielech, Adrianna, Holka, Sylwia, Zawadzki, Marek, Murawa, Dawid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Antigens; Biological products; Biomarkers; Blood levels; Ca19-9; Cancer; Carcinoembryonic antigen; carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA); Care and treatment; CEA (Oncology); Cellular biology; Chemotherapy; Cytology; Diagnosis; Gastric cancer; Laparoscopy; Metastasis; Oncology, Experimental; Patients; Peritoneal fluid; peritoneal washings; Peritoneum; Sialyl Lewis a antigen; Statistical analysis; Statistics; Stomach cancer; Surgery; Tomography; Tumor markers; Tumors
• ISSN: 2227-9059; 2227-9059
• DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12112584

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the levels of tumor markers-specifically, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and Ca19-9 antigen-determined in both serum (sCEA and sCa19-9) and intraoperative peritoneal washings (pCEA and pCa19-9) and the advanced stage of gastric cancer (including the occurrence of cancer cells in cytology from abdominal fluid). This study included 47 patients with histopathologically confirmed gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction cancer who underwent surgical treatment. The material for the cytological examination and assessment of CEA and Ca19-9 concentrations in peritoneal fluid was collected intraoperatively. Later, blood was drawn to assess the CEA and Ca19-9 concentrations in blood serum. There was a statistical correlation between a positive cytology result or the presence of peritoneal carcinomatosis and a positive result for the tumor markers obtained from abdominal washings. This correlation was not observed with marker levels obtained from blood serum. The pCEA marker was highly sensitive (93.3%) and specific (93.8%) for detecting cancer cells. The pCa19-9 marker was less effective in detecting cancer but matched pCEA in identifying the absence of cancer. No differences were observed in sCEA and sCA19-9 levels between patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and those who did not receive this treatment. However, statistical analysis showed that this relationship did not apply to pCEA and pCa19-9 levels. Intraoperative determinations of tumor marker levels in peritoneal washings may be a predictive factor for a poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer.