Carcinoembryonic Antigen Titers on Effusion Fluid

Combined Carcinoembryonic Antigen and Cytopathologic Examination in Ascites

“…In effusions higher levels are acceptable. 1,5,12 The combined tests gave a sensitivity of 82.6% and specificity of 94.5%. The false negativity of the combined tests was 17.3% and false positivity, 5.4%.…”

“…5,12 CEA is the most widely studied tumor antigen [2][3][4]6,17 and in clinical practice has been used extensively in post surgical follow-up of colorectal tumors. 8,13,15,18 CEA is a glycoprotein of 200,000 d composed of glycocalyx of epithelial cells, normally secreted in the intestinal lumen.…”

“…Furthermore, the CEA macromolecule can be retained in effusions, where it does not undergo rapid degradation, as occurs in plasma. 12 We studied use of the cytopathologic examination and CEA assay to improve the differential diagnosis of neoplastic and nonneoplastic ascites.…”

CA-15.3 Assay in Effusions

“…1,2,6,12,18 Some studies have indicated the superior sensitivity of the CEA assay over CA-15.3 content in the detection of malignant effusions. 18,19 Previous studies from our laboratory 15,16 and others 3,10,11,13,17,20 have supported the use of the CEA assay to enhance the sensitivity of cytologic diagnosis of malignant effu- …”

Significance of fibronectin in cirrhotic and malignant ascites.

“…Among these, there are total protein, glucose, serum-ascites albumin gradient (S-AA), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), leucine amino peptidase (LAP), and gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGT) enzyme activities, as well as lipid analyses [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Fibronectin (FN), a glycoprotein, has been determined in only a few studies to distinguish ascites of malignant origin from ascites caused by chronic liver disease.…”