Prognostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen levels before and after curative surgery in colon cancer patients

PURPOSE: CEA is a useful tumor marker for colon cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of changes in CEA levels before and after surgery in colon cancer patients who underwent radical surgery. METHODS: A total of 601 colon cancer patients who underwent radical surgery from January 2007 to December 2017 at a single institution were evaluated. Patients were categorized according to preoperative and postoperative CEA levels. We adjusted patient characteristics using propensity score matched analysis between groups and compared survival outcomes according to changes in CEA levels before and after surgery. RESULTS: According to the preoperative and postoperative CEA levels, patients were classified into 3 groups: group 1, ≤5 and ≤5 ng/mL, respectively (n = 407); group 2, >5 and ≤5 ng/mL, respectively (n = 127); and group 3 (>5 and >5 ng/mL, respectively (n = 67). Postoperative CEA elevation was associated with adverse clinical features. Before and after matching, the patients in group 3 showed significantly lower disease-free survival and overall survival rates compared to the patients in group 1 and group 2. In multivariate analysis, changes in CEA levels were an independent prognostic factor of overall survival (P = 0.041). CONCLUSION: The changes in CEA levels before and after surgery can be a useful prognostic factor for disease-free survival and overall survival in colon cancer patients.