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Carcinoembryonic antigen assay: An adjunct to liver scanning in hepatic metastases detection
Author(s) -
McCartney William H.,
Hoffer Paul B.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197809)42:3+<1457::aid-cncr2820420814>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - medicine , carcinoembryonic antigen , radiology , nuclear medicine , gastroenterology , pathology , cancer
The radionuclide liver scan is a valuable study for detection of hepatic metastases; however, it has a false‐negative rate of between 10 and 30%. In a double‐blind study involving 377 patients, we assessed the value of CEA assay as an adjunct to liver scanning for detection of hepatic metastases. Fifty‐seven patients studied by both methods were ultimately proven to have liver metastases. All patients with CEA levels above 9 ng/ml and focal defects on liver scan had hepatic tumor involvement, while only 4 of 291 patients with CEA values less than 9 ng/ml and negative scans were later shown to have liver metastases. CEA and liver scan results were discordant for 29 patients with proven hepatic metastases: the radionuclide study was positive in 21 cases with false‐negative CEA results, while the CEA assay suggested the presence of metastatic disease in eight of the 12 patients with false‐negative liver scans.