Effect of Perioperative CEA and CA24-2 on Prognosis of Early Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) show differential prognosis after radical resection. Currently, cancer grading and surgical criteria depend heavily on imaging and anatomical diagnosis. It's essential to set up a model with reliable prognostic factors during the perioperative period to assess prognosis in PDAC patients. In this study, 103 patients diagnosed with PDAC who underwent radical resection were recruited. The predictive value of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), postoperative CA24-2 and the combination of two for overall survival (OS) were evaluated. Both pre-CEA and post-CA24-2 were found to be independent prognostic factors for OS according to multivariate analyses. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that CEA and CA24-2 as well as the combination of two were correlated with poor OS. In addition, patients with both markers elevated have worse prognosis than patients with either pre-CEA or post-CA24-2 elevated. Thus, we concluded that the combination of CEA and CA24-2 can be used as a prognostic factor for stage I and II resectable PDAC patients.