Serum cancer antigen

Serum cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) is the most extensively evaluated tumor marker for ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, the CA-125 determination is non-specific, and elevated levels can be associated with a number of other gynecologic and gastrointestinal diseases. CA-125 levels in a woman without ovarian cancer, though, are static or tend to decrease over time, whereas levels associated with malignancy will continue to rise.10 Since CA-125 is a non-specific marker, there is no standard recommendation for routine screening for prevention of ovarian cancer. 

Baseline laboratory tests should include complete blood cell count, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, liver and renal function tests, and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Serum CEA can serve as a marker for monitoring colorectal cancer response to treatment, but it is too insensitive and nonspecific to be used as a screening test for early-stage colorectal cancer. 

Pre J, Vassy R. 1993. Cigarette smoking and serum levels of alpha-1 fetoprotein carcinoembryonic antigen cancer antigens 125 and 19-9 Neurone-specific enolase. Med Sci Res 21(12) 445-446. 

W4. Wong, I. H., Yeo, W., Chan, A. T., and Johnson, P. J., Quantitative relationship of the circulating tumor burden assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for cytokeratin 19 mRNA in peripheral blood of colorectal cancer patients with Dukes stage, serum carcinoembryonic antigen level, and tumor progression. Cancer Lett. 162, 65-73 (2001). 

Array detectors, in general, clearly have an important role to play in personalization of medical care. A recent example of work in this field is the development of nanobiochips for multiplexed protein detection of three cancer biomarkers, namely, carcinoembiyonic antigen, cancer antigen 125, and Her-2INeu in serum and saliva specimens. ... 

Miyata, Y, H Sakai, T Hayashi, and H Kanetake. 2003. Serum insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3/ prostate-specific antigen ratio is a useful predictive marker in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Prostate 54 125-132. 

The effect of adding finasteride 5 mg/day to high-dose bicalutamide 150 mg/ day has been studied in 41 men with advanced prostate cancer treated over a mean of 3.9 years (21). The serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration was measured every 2 weeks until disease progression. At the first nadir of PSA, the median fall from baseline was 96.5% a second nadir occurred in 30 of 41 patients, with a median fall of 98.5% from baseline. The median times to each nadir were 3.7 and 5.8 weeks respectively. The median time to treatment failure was 21 months. Adverse effects were minor, including gynecomastia. Sex drive was normal in 17 of 29 men at baseline and in 12 of 24 men at the second PSA nadir, but one-third of the men had spontaneous erections at both times. The authors concluded that finasteride provided additional intracellular androgen blockade when added to bicalutamide. The duration of control was comparable to that achieved with castration, with preserved sexual function in some patients. 

Finasteride reduces serum prostate-specific antigen concentrations (60). In participants in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial who had an end of study biopsy (928... 

Jiang, X. P., Yang, D. C., Elliot, R. L., and Head, J. F. 1999. Reduction in serum IL-6 after vaccination of breast cancer patients with tumor-associated antigens is related to estrogen receptor status. Cytokine 72 458 165. 

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is one of the most reliable cancer-specific molecular markers. PSA expression is, for the most part, restricted to the prostate and elevated serum PSA indicates the possibility of malignant prostate cancer. Use of serum PSA as a diagnostic tool is still controversial since PSA levels are also elevated in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH),... 

Stenman UH, Leinonen J, Alfthan H, Rannikko S, Tuhkanen K, Alfthan O. A complex between prostate-specific antigen and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin is the major form of prostate-specific antigen in serum of patients with prostatic cancer Assay of the complex improves clinical sensitivity for cancer. Cancer Res 1991 51 222-226. 

Christensson A, Bjork T, Nilsson O, et al. Serum prostate specific antigen complexed to alpha 1-antichymotrypsin as an indicator of prostate cancer. J Urol 1993 150 100-105. 

---