This is an automatically translated article.
The article was professionally consulted by BSCK II Phung Thi Phuong Chi - Oncologist - Oncology Center - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital.CEA is an antigen present in the intestinal cells of the fetus and when mature, only very low concentrations are present in the blood. When patients have cancer, especially carcinoma, CEA levels increase. Cancers of the stomach, intestines, breast, lung, pancreas... also often have elevated CEA.
1. What is the CEA test?
CEA test stands for Carcinoembryonic antigen, which is a protein found in the tissue of a fetus developing in the uterus; Blood levels of this protein disappear or drop to very low levels after birth.
This is a test to monitor the recurrence of colon cancer and other cancers in people who have been diagnosed with cancer, and to monitor recurrence after treatment.
Trắc nghiệm: Bạn biết gì về các yếu tố nguy cơ, chẩn đoán và điều trị ung thư tuyến tụy?
Ung thư tuyến tụy phổ biến thứ 10 trong những bệnh ung thư mới và là nguyên nhân thứ 4 gây tử vong do ung thư ở nam, nữ. Bài trắc nghiệm này sẽ kiểm tra kiến thức của bạn về các yếu tố nguy cơ, chẩn đoán và cách điều trị ung thư tuyến tụy.
Bài viết tham khảo nguồn: medicalnewstoday 2019
2. When is the CEA test ordered?
Xét nghiệm CEA được chỉ định khi nào?
CEA test may be ordered when the patient has been diagnosed with colorectal, stomach, lung cancer. CEA will be quantified prior to initiation of treatment and then tested over time to assess treatment efficacy, prognosis, and detect recurrence and metastasis.
Sometimes a cancer screening CEA test can also be done when cancer is suspected but has not been diagnosed. This is not a specific test for any type of cancer because CEA levels can be elevated in many different conditions. However, this test may still be ordered to provide additional diagnostic information depending on the specific clinical situation.
Body fluid CEA testing may be ordered to detect tumor that has invaded or metastasized to body cavities (eg, metastasis has spread to the peritoneal cavity, pleura, or brain).
Patients with CEA test can be used for 3 different purposes: cancer screening, monitoring treatment effectiveness and monitoring metastases recurrence. Of the three goals above, the goal of monitoring metastasis for recurrence accounted for the highest rate, monitoring of treatment results accounted for the lowest rate.
3. What are normal and abnormal CEA levels?
Normal CEA concentrations range from 0 to 2.5mcg per liter of blood (mcg/L). Normal limits can vary between different laboratories. In smokers, elevated CEA levels may rise to the upper limit of normal to 5 mcg/L.CEA higher than normal can be due to cancers such as: colon cancer, breast cancer, genital and urinary system cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer. A high level of CEA in a person who has been treated for cancer shortly before may mean that the cancer has returned.
In addition, CEA levels are also increased in a number of other causes such as: cholecystitis, cirrhosis and other liver diseases, diverticulitis, smoking, inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis, inflammation pneumonia, pancreatitis, peptic ulcer.
4. What does CEA in blood mean?
Chỉ số CEA trong máu có ý nghĩa gì?
Patients with small tumors and in the early stages, the first CEA is likely normal or slightly high. However, patients with larger tumors or tumors that have spread throughout the body are more likely to have elevated CEA values.
If the CEA index decreases after treatment, it means that most or all of the CEA-producing tumors have been removed. A steady rise in CEA is often the first sign of a tumor recurrence.
In normal people, increased CEA can be caused by a number of factors that are not related to cancer, such as inflammation, cirrhosis, peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis, rectal polyps, breast disease benign.
Since not all cancers produce CEA, the patient may have cancer but the CEA level remains normal. Depending on the CEA index in the blood, the doctor will diagnose the degree of remission or recurrence of the cancer
Patients need to conduct regular tests to check the CEA index in the blood, promptly treat if disease recurrence or adverse changes affecting health.
Doctor Phung Thi Phuong Chi has 20 years of experience in the profession at Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital with strengths in examination, diagnosis and surgical treatment and chemotherapy of cancer pathology.
Doctor Chi participated in domestic and foreign training courses and was one of the first surgeons to perform Laparoscopic Gynecological Cancer Surgery in Ho Chi Minh City.
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