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Cancer Antigen 15-3 Serum Level as a Biomarker for Advanced Micropapillary Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder: A Case Report

A 73-year-old woman with no history of disease was referred to our hospital with fatigue and joint pain. Screening blood test showed that her cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) serum level was elevated to 36.6 U/mL, and a contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan revealed a bladder tumor without metasta...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Takayama, Koichiro, Narita, Shintaro, Terai, Yasushiro, Saito, Ryoko, Habuchi, Tomonori
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: S. Karger AG 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8299383/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34326737
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000515781
Descripción
Sumario:A 73-year-old woman with no history of disease was referred to our hospital with fatigue and joint pain. Screening blood test showed that her cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) serum level was elevated to 36.6 U/mL, and a contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan revealed a bladder tumor without metastasis. Cystoscopy showed a papillary and a small kissing tumor, and the histopathological analysis of the bladder tumor obtained by transurethral resection (TUR) showed invasive urothelial carcinoma (UC) with micropapillary variant (pT1). At 4 weeks after TUR, the CA 15-3 serum level was markedly increased to 180.6 U/mL, and radiographic examinations revealed multiple regional and nonregional lymph node metastases. The patient received systemic therapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin. After 3 cycles of chemotherapy, the size of all lymph node metastases reduced by 80% in diameter, and the CA 15-3 serum level decreased from 238.2 to 11.4 U/mL. Immunohistological analysis showed that the bladder tumor was positive for mucin 1, of which CA 15-3 is an epitope. In our patient, changes in the CA 15-3 serum levels were in congruence with the clinical course of advanced micropapillary UC (MPUC). Therefore, the CA 15-3 serum level may be a potentially valuable biomarker for MPUC.