Association of CA 15-3 and CEA with clinicopathological parameters in patients with metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

Abstract. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of serum cancer antigen and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels with clinicopathological parameters in patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). We retrospectively evaluated the medical records of 284 patients diagnosed with MBC between January, 2007 and December, 2012 who fulfilled the specified criteria and the association between the levels of the two tumor marker and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed. Of the 284 patients, elevated CA 15-3 and CEA levels at initial diagnosis of recurrence were identified in 163 (57.4%) and 97 (34.2%) patients, respectively. Elevated CA 15-3 and CEA levels were significantly associated with breast cancer molecular subtypes (P<0.001 and P=0.032, respectively). Cases with luminal subtypes exhibited a higher percentage of elevated CA 15-3 and CEA levels compared to non-luminal subtypes. Elevated CA 15-3 level was correlated with bone metastasis (P=0.017). However, elevation of CEA was observed regardless of the site of metastasis. Elevation of CA 15-3 was significantly more common in MBC with multiple metastatic sites compared to MBC with a single metastasis (P=0.001). However, the incidence of elevated CEA levels did not differ between patients with a single and those with multiple metastatic sites. In conclusion, elevated CA 15-3 and CEA levels at initial diagnosis of recurrence were found to be associated with breast cancer molecular subtypes, whereas an elevated CA 15-3 level was significantly correlated with bone metastasis and an elevated CEA level was observed regardless of metastatic site. The proportion of MBC cases with elevated CA 15-3 levels differed according to the number of metastatic sites.

The association of five preoperative serum tumor markers and pathological features in patients with breast cancer

“…In agreement with Fang's results, they found that CEA and CA153 did not correlate with molecular subtypes, but they found that CA125 exhibited statistical differences among various molecular subtypes, with the most frequent elevations occurring in the triple-negative tumors. 7 As for metastatic breast cancer, Geng et al 16 concluded that elevated CA 153 and CEA levels at initial diagnosis of recurrence were found to be associated with breast cancer molecular subtypes. In addition, Wu 6 and his colleagues reported that CEA levels were lower in patients with triple-negative breast cancer than patients with other subtypes, and CA153 did not correlate with molecular subtypes.…”

A new marker for breast cancer diagnosis, human epididymis protein 4: A preliminary study

“…Tumor markers have been widely used for assessment of treatment responses, early diagnosis of recurrence and prognosis. In breast cancer, the most generally used serum tumor marker is cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3); however, its sensitivity and specificity are inadequate (2,3). Numerous serum markers have been studied, however, none have been implemented for routine clinical practice (4).…”

Thioredoxin-1 and MMP-9 as biomarkers in breast cancer metastasis in Egyptian female patients

“…The united measurement of both serum markers permits early diagnosis of metastases in up to 60-80% of breast cancer patients [19]. Recent study shows that elevated CA 15-3 and CEA levels were identified in 163 (57.4%) and 97 (34.2%), respectively, of the 284 patients with distant metastasis [20]. Thus, we studied the role of both Trx-1 and MMP-9 in diagnosis of breast cancer and their correlation with clinicopathological parameters of MBC and NMBC Egyptian patients, as well as, their sensitivity and specificity in the disease prognosis.…”