Prognostic values of preoperative and postoperative CEA and CA19.9 levels in pancreatic cancer

Preoperative serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and/or carbohydrate antigen 19.9 (CA19.9) were measured in 90 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. CEA antigen was above the cutoff levels of 5.0 ng/ml in 51% of patients and CA19.9 was above the cutoff limit of 37 U/ml in 87% of patients. High preoperative CEA and CA19.9 levels were related to a poor prognosis of the patients. In multivariate analysis, the hazard rate was significantly higher in the high-CEA group (> 2.5 ng/ml) compared to the low-CEA group (< 2.4 ng/ml). An increase in CEA and/or CA19.9 within 1 month after the operation was also significantly related to the hazard rate. This study reconfirms the prognostic importance of preoperative and postoperative CEA and CA19.9.