STUDIES ON CORRELATION BETWEEN TUMOR CARCINOEMBRYONIC ANTIGEN (CEA): CONTENT AND PLASMA CEA LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH CANCER OF THE STOMACH AND COLON

The carcinoembryonic antigens in the cancerous and noncancerous tissue of the stomach and colon as well in the plasma of patients with cancer of the digestive tract were quantitatively estimated by means of a kit of radioimmunoassay. Several factors influencing plasma level of CEA were analysed by histological studies of the cancerous tissues. Major factors hich influence plasma CEA level of patients were found to be the CEA concentration in tumorous tissue and the CEA content in the whole tumorous tissue along with depth of cancerous invasion and metastasis. The CEA content of the tumorous tissue of gastrointestinal cancer varied depending on the organs from which the cancer grew and on their histological types. In the cases with colonic cancer, there is a correlation between them was noted in the patients with the gastric cancer. Cases with gastric and colonic cancer in which severe cancerous infiltration or heavy interstitial fibrosis were noted showed low levels of plasma CEA. Patients with colonic cancer in which invasion of lymphvessel or vein were noted showed high levels of plasma CEA. CEA was also detected in the non-cancerous mucosa of the stomach and colon, though the amount was small, and an order of CEA amounts of in them was colonic, pyloric gland and fundic gland mucosa.