Summary of CEA RT-PCR results in blood samples from apparently healthy volunteers and patients with benign or malignant colorectal disease
| No. of cases | No. of positive casesa | No. of borderline positive (+/−) casesa | No. of negative cases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series I | ||||
| Donors | ||||
| 1 μg of RNA | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 2 μg of RNA | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 5 μg of RNA | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Patients | ||||
| 1 μg of RNA | 20 | 3 (15) | 0 | 17 |
| 2 μg of RNA | 20 | 7 (35) | 0 | 13 |
| 5 μg of RNA | 20 | 15 (75) | 0 | 5 |
| Series IIb | ||||
| Donorsc | 40 | 0 | 2 (5.0) | 38 (95.0) |
| Patients | ||||
| Benign | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 (100.0) |
| Malignant | 51 | 34 (66.7) | 1 (2.0) | 16 (31.4) |
a Numbers in parentheses represent percentages.
b 5 μg of RNA were used for all series II samples.
c Donors are apparently healthy individuals, as described in “Materials and Methods.”