CEA

Changed by Daniel J Bell, 21 Oct 2018

Updates to Article Attributes

Body was changed:

Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a cell-adhesive glycoprotein that was discovered in colorectal cancer in 1965, and is hence one of the oldest and most used tumour markers. Its name derives from its normal expression in fetoembryonic liver, gut and pancreas tissue.

Normal range of CEA is <2.5 ng/ml/mL in adult non-smokers and <5.0 ng/ml/mL in smokers.

Its primary significance is in colorectal cancer:

  • as with most tumour markers it is inappropriate for screening given it poor sensitivity and specificity
  • used routinely for detecting post operative earlyearly postoperative recurrence and metastatic disease, especially liver disease
  • also used for monitoring response to treatment of metastatic disease
  • higher levels are associated with
    • higher grade tumours
    • higher stage disease
    • visceral metastases (especially liver metastases)

It can also be found elevated in a number of other malignancies:

Non-neoplastic causes common and include:

See other tumour markers here.

  • -<p>Serum <strong>carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) </strong>is a cell-adhesive glycoprotein that was discovered in colorectal cancer in 1965, and is hence one of the oldest and most used <a href="/articles/tumour-markers">tumour markers</a>. Its name derives from its normal expression in fetoembryonic liver, gut and pancreas tissue.</p><p>Normal range of CEA is &lt;2.5 ng/ml in adult non-smokers and &lt;5.0 ng/ml in smokers.</p><p>Its primary significance is in <a href="/articles/colorectal-carcinoma">colorectal cancer</a>:</p><ul>
  • +<p>Serum <strong>carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) </strong>is a cell-adhesive glycoprotein that was discovered in colorectal cancer in 1965, and is hence one of the oldest and most used <a href="/articles/tumour-markers">tumour markers</a>. Its name derives from its normal expression in fetoembryonic liver, gut and pancreas tissue.</p><p>Normal range of CEA is &lt;2.5 ng/mL in adult non-smokers and &lt;5.0 ng/mL in smokers.</p><p>Its primary significance is in <a href="/articles/colorectal-carcinoma">colorectal cancer</a>:</p><ul>
  • -<li>used routinely for detecting post operative early recurrence and metastatic disease, especially liver disease</li>
  • +<li>used routinely for detecting early postoperative recurrence and metastatic disease, especially liver disease</li>
  • -<a href="/articles/ulcerative-colitis">ulcerative colitis</a> and <a href="/articles/crohn-disease-1">Crohn's disease</a>
  • +<a href="/articles/ulcerative-colitis">ulcerative colitis</a> and <a href="/articles/crohn-disease-1">Crohn disease</a>
  • -<li>chemotherapy related liver injury</li>
  • -<li>anaesthetic related liver injury</li>
  • +<li>chemotherapy-related liver injury</li>
  • +<li>anaesthetic-related liver injury</li>
  • -</ul><p>See other tumour markers <a href="/articles/tumour-markers">here</a>.</p>
  • +</ul><p>See other tumour markers <a href="/articles/tumour-markers">here</a></p>

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