AUTHOR=Wu Shengwen , Gu Wenlong 

TITLE=Association of T Stage and Serum CEA Levels in Determining Survival of Rectal Cancer

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2019.00270

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2019.00270

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Purpose:</bold> To investigate the association of T stage and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in determining oncologic outcomes of rectal cancer.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Patients diagnosed with stage I–II rectal cancer patients were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> In stage T1N0M0 disease, elevated level of serum CEA (C1) was associated with 227.6% increased risk of mortality compared to normal level of serum CEA (C0; hazard ratio = 3.276, 95% confidence interval = 2.781–3.858, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> Stage T1N0M0 rectal cancer, when involved in preoperative serum CEA elevation, may be a surrogate of biologically aggressive disease and correlate with unfavorable oncologic outcomes. Moreover, this subgroup of rectal cancer deserves more clinical attention of oncologists.</p>