Serum CA242: a biomarker for diagnosis, progression, and metastasis in multiple tumors

Abstract

BackgroundCA242 is a classic biomarker used for diagnosing digestive tract tumors, especially pancreatic cancer. However, CA242 serum levels in some tumor patients and what might influence these levels remain unknown or uncertain. This study aimed to reveal the pancancer landscape of serum CA242 levels and identify some influencing factors.MethodsIn the current study, serum CA242 levels and clinical information, including clinical stage and metastatic status, were collected from 37,493 patients with 35 different types of neoplastic disease, and CA242 values were also obtained for 880 healthy controls.ResultsSerum CA242 levels in patients with one of 21 different cancers were significantly higher than those in healthy controls and had diagnostic value in 9 tumors (AUC>0.7, P<0.05); serum CA242 levels were increased across all malignant digestive tract tumors. Compared to patients without metastasis, cancer patients with one of 15 kinds of cancer with lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis showed elevated CA242 levels. Moreover, CA242 was helpful in distinguishing the clinical stage and metastatic status in 6 cancers. In addition, the presence of multiple metastases and liver metastasis might result in increased CA242 levels.ConclusionsOverall, CA242 can not only serve as a diagnostic biomarker for malignant tumors in the digestive system but also predict the progression, stage, and metastasis of many other tumors that have not received clinical attention.