Open AccessComparison of plasma prolactin and CEA in monitoring patients with adenocarcinoma of colon and rectum
Author(s) -
Bhatavdekar Jm,
Dev Patel,
DD Giri,
Karelia Nh,
Vora Hh,
Nandita Ghosh,
Neelam G. Shah,
Sn N. Trivedi,
Damodar B. Balar
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
british journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.833
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1532-1827
pISSN - 0007-0920
DOI - 10.1038/bjc.1992.395
Subject(s) - carcinoembryonic antigen , medicine , rectum , adenocarcinoma , radioimmunoassay , colorectal cancer , gastroenterology , prolactin , stage (stratigraphy) , tumor marker , oncofetal antigen , oncology , cancer , pathology , hormone , biology , tumor associated antigen , paleontology , immunotherapy
Plasma prolactin (PRL) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were measured by radioimmunoassay in 74 patients with adenocarcinoma of colon and rectum. The markers were correlated with disease stage, histological grade and progression/remission of disease. The circulating preoperative median PRL and CEA levels were significantly higher in colorectal cancer patients than in their respective controls. PRL was elevated in all Dukes stages and in all histological grades of the tumour whereas the rise in CEA was more pronounced in Dukes D. Out of 74 patients, 29% (21/74) developed recurrent disease and 31% (23/74) responded to the treatment. With regard to monitoring recurrence(s), the predictive value of PRL was 94% which was significantly greater than that of CEA which was only 62%. In patients who developed liver metastases PRL remained elevated whereas CEA showed more than 100-fold increase. Therefore, we feel that CEA is a better marker for monitoring patients who developed liver metastases. From our results, we suggest that PRL can be used as a better overall marker for detecting recurrence(s) in patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma.