CA19-9 is a significant prognostic marker of patients with stage III gastric cancer

Abstract

BackgroundDue to prognostic heterogeneity within a stage of gastric cancer (GC), identification of patients with a high risk for recurrence after resection is important. We aimed to identify the prognostic significance of preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) levels in patients with Stage I, II, and III GC who underwent R0 gastrectomy. MethodsA total of 794 patients were included in this study after excluding 72 patients with CA19-9 <1.0 U/mL. Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn to assess the optimal cut-off values of CEA and CA19-9 for disease recurrence. ResultsThe optimal cut-off values of CEA and CA19-9 levels were 2.9 ng/mL and 46.3 U/mL, respectively. Multivariate analysis for relapse-free survival (RFS) showed that stage of GC, CA19-9 levels, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, and venous invasion were significant independent factors. The RFS and overall survival (OS) of patients with CA19-9 ≥ 46.3 U/mL were significantly lower than those with CA19-9 < 46.3 U/mL in Stage III GC. However, the RFS of GC patients with CA19-9 ≥ 463 U/mL tended to be better than those with CA19-9 levels between 46.3 and 463 U/mL. ConclusionsThe RFS and OS of patients with CA19-9 ≥ 46.3 U/mL were significantly lower than those with CA19-9 < 46.3 U/mL in Stage III GC. However, there was no value dependency of extremely elevated CA19-9 on RFS. Further risk stratification can be obtained by measuring preoperative serum CA19-9 in stage III GC.