Bile carcinoembryonic cell adhesion molecule 6 as a potential diagnostic tool for malignant biliary stenotic lesions

Abstract

AimValidate the biliary carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6 in differentiating malignant from benign biliary lesions.BackgroundThe nature of biliary stenosis needs to be diagnosed early and accurately to give the patient the best chance of therapy. Imaging techniques still lack the high accuracy for this purpose. Different biomarkers were postulated to increase the diagnostic accuracy, and of them, carcinoembryonic cell adhesion molecule 6 (CEAM6) in bile was investigated in this study.Patients and methodsForty-four patients with biliary stenosis were enrolled in this prospective study in Assiut University Hospital from 2017 to 2019. CEAM6 concentration in bile and serum was measured using human carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6 ELISA kit from SinoGeneClon Biotech Co. Ltd, and CA19-9 concentration in serum was assessed by the ELISA kit for CA19-9 from USCN Life Science Inc.ResultsThe area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of bile CEAM6 for diagnosis of stricture type among the study population were 0.841, 83, 74, 77, 82, and 78.5%, respectively, at a cut-off value of 6.15 ng/ml. Multivariate analysis showed age, CEAM6, CA19-9, and alkaline phosphatase as good predictors of malignancy.ConclusionCEAM6 in bile could be a good diagnostic tool to detect the nature of biliary stenosis.