Table 6

Summary of the CEA RT-PCR results on blood samples from colorectal cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

Patient	Stage	Site of metastasis	Days post surgery	CEA RT-PCR	Serum levels^a			Postsurgical treatment
Patient	Stage	Site of metastasis	Days post surgery	CEA RT-PCR	CEA	CA19.9	CA72-4	Postsurgical treatment
26	C2		−5	++	5.6 (+)	0.4 (−)	0.4 (−)	CHT-RT^b
			90	+	9.0 (+)	18.4 (−)	1.2 (−)
			210	+	12.5 (+)	29.3 (−)	1.5 (−)
		Lung	420	+++	793.8 (+)	2319.0 (+)	0.6 (−)	Lung metastasis
		Lung	483	+++	894.0 (+)	1090.0 (+)	1.8 (−)
38	D	Multiple	−2	+++	10.2 (+)	2.0 (−)	0.1 (−)	CHT
			36	++	9.4 (+)	0.1 (−)	0.1 (−)	Stable disease
			53	++	16.2 (+)	0.1 (−)	1.8 (−)	Stable disease
			235	++	51.3 (+)	0.1 (−)	2.6 (−)	Stable disease
			319	+++	82.0 (+)	0.8 (−)	2.4 (−)	PD
			530	+++	573.1 (+)	5.3 (−)	3.3 (−)	PD
31	D	Liver	−1	+++	311.6 (+)	6490.1 (+)	1.3 (−)	CHT
			33	−	224.0 (+)	182.9 (+)	2.4 (−)
			51	−	60.5 (+)	462.0 (+)	2.6 (−)	Responsive
			182	++	226.5 (+)	487.1 (+)	42.6 (+)	PD
37	D	Liver	−1	+++	13.5 (+)	84.6 (+)	22.5 (+)	CHT
			33	−	4.3 (−)	45.3 (+)	8.4 (+)	Responsive
			51	−	4.1 (−)	39.5 (+)	6.9 (+)	Responsive
			182	++	9.5 (+)	76.4 (+)	18.9 (+)	PD
46	D	Liver	−11	+++	1.0 (−)	0.4 (−)	0.3 (−)	CHT
			41	++	1.4 (−)	0.1 (−)	1.4 (−)	Responsive
			56	++	2.2 (−)	0.1 (−)	0.4 (−)	CR
			219	+	1.1 (−)	0.8 (−)	2.1 (−)	CR

a Serum CEA levels were determined by an enzyme immunoassay test kit, using a value of 5 ng/ml as positive. CA19.9 was determined using the CA19.9 kit with the suggested value 37 units/ml as positive. Serum CA72-4 antigen levels were determined using the CA72-4 kit with the suggested value 6 units/ml as positive.
b CHT-RT, chemotherapy + radiotherapy; PD, progressive disease; CR, complete remission.