CEA levels in active and non-active malignant tumors

A total of 895 CEA estimations were carried out on serum samples from 283 patients with different primary tumor sites. All assays were performed during the period of follow up or treatment of the patients. Concomitantly with CEA estimation, activity of disease was recorded, based on objective laboratory and clinical parameters. The results obtained proved a high accuracy rate for normal CEA values in non-active disease as well as elevated CEA values in active disease. It is concluded that the correlation between CEA level and activity of disease in various neoplasms is an important aid in clinical decision making during the course of disease, provided false positive or negative results are taken into consideration.