Cytokeratin Fragment 19 (CYFRA 21-1) and Carcinoembryonic Antigen for Early Prediction of Recurrence of Lung Adenocarcinoma

Byline: C.-H. Kao (1), J.-F. Hsieh (2), Y.-J. Ho (3), H.-J. Ding (4) Keywords: Key words: Cytokeratin fragment 19 (CYFRA 21-1)--Carcinoembryonic antigen--Lung adenocarcinoma. Abstract: Fifty patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung were enrolled in this study, including 20 patients with recurrence and 30 patients without recurrence 1 year after surgery. Serial serum levels of cytokeratin fragment 19 (CYFRA 21-1) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were measured before the operation and 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months after surgery for the early detection of recurrence. The results revealed that the mean serum values of either CYFRA 21-1 or CEA were significantly higher until 9 and 12 months after surgery in the 20 patients with recurrent adenocarcinoma compared with the 30 patients without recurrent adenocarcinoma. We conclude that CYFRA 21-1 is not a better marker than CEA for early prediction of adenocarcinoma. We conclude that CYFRA 21-1 is not a better marker than CEA for early prediction of adenocarcinoma recurrence in lung. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, TW (2) Department of Nuclear Medicine, Chi-Mei Foundation Hospital, Taiwan, TW (3) Department of Radiology, Jen-Ai Hospital, Taiwan, TW (4) Department of Nuclear Medicine and School of Technology for Medical Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, TW Article note: Accepted for publication: 7 July 1999