Carcinoembryonic Antigen as a Prognostic Factor in Colorectal Cancer with Liver Metastases

Abstract

Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level in colorectal cancer patients with liver metastases. The serum CEA level was recorded at the point of metastasis diagnosis, differing from the majority of literature looking at preoperative metastasectomy CEA level. Methods: From January 2010 to December 2014, 138 patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer and liver metastases were included in the study—population from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Patients with both resectable and unresectable liver metastases were followed up over a 4-year period. Kaplan Meier survival analysis was used to produce survival curves that were compared by log-rank test. Results: The overall survival for all patients studied with a CEA < 100 ng/ml was significantly longer compared to patients with CEA ≥ 100 ng/mL (p < 0.001). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival rates for the whole cohort were 73.6, 56.6 and 53.8% respectively. For patients with unresectable metastases, a low CEA level (<100 ng/mL) was also associated with the increased overall survival (p = 0.036). Conclusions: In our patient cohort, this study indicated that a low CEA level (<100 ng/mL) measured at metastasis diagnosis was a good prognostic indicator for improving survival in patients with colorectal liver metastases. These findings highlight the importance of measuring serum CEA levels in this group of patients at the time of liver metastasis diagnosis.