Prognostic and predictive value of serum tumor markers in early stage of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Objective To assess the diagnostic and prognostic value of combined detection of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) for patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)． Methods A total of three hundred and seven patients with resectable PDAC admitted to Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2006 to July 2013 were enrolled, and two hundred patients with pancreatic benign lesions and one hundred healthy subjects were served as controls． Then patients were stratified into subgroups in regard to their preoperative tumor marker levels． Retrospective analysis was utilized to identify diagnostic and prognostic value of the combined detection of CA19-9, CEA and CA125 for patients with resectable PDAC． Results The preoperative serum level of CA19-9, CEA and CA125 in patients with early stage of PDAC was found to be significantly higher than those with benign pancreatic diseases and healthy controls (P< 0．01)． The combined detection of CA19-9, CEA and CA125 yielded a ROC value of 0．923 that was obviously higher compared to any of single detection (P< 0．01), and its sensitivity and accuracy were 89．6% and 85．7%, respectively． The combination of preoperative CA19-9 and CEA levels in patients with resectable PDAC had close correlation with tumor location, the degree of tumor differentiation, tumor size, T stage, lymph node involvement, duodenum invasion and overall survival (P< 0．05)． Conclusion The combined detection of serum tumor markers CA19-9, CEA and CA125 can improve diagnostic rate and provide useful information to estimate prognosis in patients with resectable PDAC．