Serum Ca 19-9 in pancreatic adenocarcinoma: correlation with hystopathologycal characteristics and a prognostic marker for survival after curative resection

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer is the EU’s third biggest cancer killer, despite being the seventh most common cancer, with the extremely poor outlook for patients. CA19-9 serum levels was eval- uated as a screening tool in asymptomatic individuals and in patients with symptoms related to pancreatic cancer. The aim of the study was to correlate CA19-9 serum level in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma with gender, age, grade of differentiation, tumor size and tumor stage. Also, CA19-9 serum level and survival rate was determinate for the period of one year. The study included 62 patients, 40 male and 22 female with pancreatic cancer, diagnosis con- firmed by histopathological examination after surgical treatment. CA19-9 measurements were carried out at certified laboratories. The normal level of CA19-9 was 37U/ml. The patients were divided into 2 groups: the first group with increased CA19-9 level under 100U/ml and the second group with CA19-9 level over 100U/ml. Correlation between histological tumor characteristics including: tumor size, tumor stage and cell differentiation, as well as CA19-9 serum levels, re- vealed insignificant results. However, patients with elevated CA19-9 values higher than 100U/ ml were more frequently measured in patients with larger tumors, advanced III stage of tumor and poorly differentiated tumors. Our study revealed significant correlation between CA19-9 levels and patients’ gender (more in female patients than in male, 90.9% vs 62.5%), age of the patients (older patients) and survival in patients with pancreatic cancer (p=0.022).