conditions (including but not limited to first trimester pregnancy, menstruation, endometriosis uterine fibrosis, acute salphingitis, hepatic diseases and inflammation of

 

Expected Values

Normal range < 30 Units.

It is recommended that each laboratory establishes its

own normal range to account for such local environment

factors as diet, climate, living conditions, patient selection,

etc.

Increased

Adenoma of salivary gland; breast cancer; benign breast

disease; breast cancer metastasis; lung cancer; ovarian

benign disease; recurrence after remission in breast cancer

with bone metastasis.

Decreased

Positive response to therapy.

CA 19-9 (CARBOHYDRATE AG 19-9, GICAM

GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER ANTIGEN)

BLOOD MFD: CAN AG,

(Courtesy: Lilac Medicare)

Expected Values

Normal range < 37 Units.

684 Concise Book of Medical Laboratory Technology: Methods and Interpretations It is recommended that each laboratory establishes its

own normal range.

Reference Values

SI units

Norm < 37 AU/mL < 37 kU/L

Metastasis > 1000 AU/mL > 1000 kU/L

Usage

Tumor marker antigen that is helpful in post-therapeutic

monitoring to determine the success of therapy or the

presence of cancer recurrence. Useful for monitoring gastrointestinal cancers, head and neck tumors, and gynecologic

tumors. Predicts the recurrence of stomach, pancreatic,

liver, and colorectal malignancies. Is used in combination

with other tumor markers to measure the effectiveness

of treatment or earlier detection of recurrence and

development of metastases. Most effective for monitoring

pancreatic cancer.

Increased in

Intra-abdominal carcinoma, pancreatic carcinoma (most

frequently elevated marker; elevated levels found in 80%

of patients with pancreatic cancer), and possibly with

other adenocarcinomas such as lung, gastric, biliary, and

colonic. Also cholangitis, cirrhosis and pancreatitis (acute).

Description: A carbohydrate antigen, related to the Lewis

blood group antigen. CA 19-9 is a carbohydrate antigen

that has been shown to be elevated in the sera or some

patients with gastrointestinal tumors. Elevated levels

can indicate recurrence of cancer before radiographic or

clinical findings by 1 to 7 months.

CA242 MFD: CAN AG,

(Courtesy: Lilac Medicare)

During malignant transformation of cells, substances

which are not present or present in very low amounts in

normal cells, may be expressed and secreted into body

fluids. Tumor-associated substances may be determined

with immunological methods using reagents specific for

the tumor-associated antigen, and used for detection of

malignant cells or presence of tumor in the body, to study

the status of the disease and/or follow the effect of therapy.

The CA242 epitope, identified by the C242 monoclonal

antibody (MAb), is a sialylated carbohydrate antigen present

on mucinous type of glycoprotein (s) (named CanAg) in

carcinomas of many organs. The CA242 antigen is shedded

from the tumor and the CA242 epitope can be detected in

serum from patients with carcinomas using the C242 MAb.

The CA242 levels are low in healthy subjects and

subjects with benign diseases, while elevated levels are

commonly found in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

The CA242 test may be used as an aid in the diagnosis

and management of patients with known or suspected

gastrointestinal carcinomas. The test can be used for

diagnostic studies of carcinomas in different organs,

to monitor the effect of different treatments of cancer,

detection of recurrent cancer disease, and for studies of the

prognostic significance of pre-and post treatment levels of

CA242.

The CA242 test should not be used as a substitute for

any established clinical examination of malignancy, but

may be used as a complement to existing clinical and

laboratory methods.

Reference Value

Normal value: In healthy subjects < 20 Units/mL.

CA 50 (Carbohydrate Antigen 50)

Normal value < 17 U/ mL.

Increased

Colorectal adenocarcinomas, digestive tract carcinoma,

esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung

carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, transitional cell bladder

carcinoma.

Decreased

Positive response to therapy.

Description: A tumor marker that increases with many

malignancies, particularly those the digestive tract. This

test is not specific enough for screening and correlates

more with tumor progression than with tumor regression.

CA 125 (CANCER ANTIGEN 125)

MFD: MONOBIND

(Courtesy: Lilac Medicare)

Summary and Explanation of the Test

Cancer Antigen 125 (CA-125) is a glycoprotein that occurs

in blood as high molecular weight (M > 200,000). High

concentrations of this antigen are associated with ovarian

cancer and a range of benign and malignant diseases.

Although the specificity and sensitivity of CA-125 assays

are somewhat limited, especially in early diagnosis of

ovarian cancer, the assay has found widespread use in the

differential diagnosis of adnexal masses, in monitoring

disease progression and response to therapy in ovarian

cancer, and in the early detection of recurrence after

Serology/Immunology 685

surgery or chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Published

literature has shown that elevated serum CA-125 levels can

be observed in patients with serious endometroid, clear

cell and undifferentiated ovarian carcinoma. The serum

CA-125 is elevated in 1% of normal healthy women, 3%

of normal healthy women with benign ovarian diseases,

6% of patients with non-neoplastic conditions (including

but not limited to first trimester pregnancy, menstruation,

endometriosis, uterine fibrosis, acute salpingitis, hepatic

diseases and inflammation of peritoneum or pericardium).

Expected Ranges of Values

The serum CA-125 is elevated in 1% of normal healthy

women, 3% of normal healthy women with benign

ovarian diseases, 6% of patients with non-neoplastic

conditions (including but not limited to first trimester

pregnancy, menstruation, endometriosis uterine fibrosis,

acute salphingitis, hepatic diseases and inflammation of

peritoneum or pericardium).

Expected values for the CA-125 ELISA Test System

Healthy and non-pregnant subjects < 35 U/mL.

CARCINOEMBRYONIC ANTIGEN (CEA)

MFD: MONOBIND

(Courtesy: Lilac Medicare)

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a glycoprotein with

a molecular weight of 180 kDa. CEA is the first of the socalled carcinoembryonic proteins that was discovered in

1965 by Gold and Freeman.