PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - SUZUKI, HIDEKAZU AU - HIRASHIMA, TOMONORI AU - KOBAYASHI, MASASHI AU - SASADA, SHINJI AU - OKAMOTO, NORIO AU - UEHARA, NOBUKO AU - TAMIYA, MOTOHIRO AU - MATSUURA, YUKA AU - MORISHITA, NAOKO AU - KAWASE, ICHIRO TI - Cytokeratin 19 Fragment/Carcinoembryonic Antigen Ratio in Pleural Effusion Is a Useful Marker for Detecting Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma DP - 2010 Oct 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 4343--4346 VI - 30 IP - 10 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/30/10/4343.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/30/10/4343.full SO - Anticancer Res2010 Oct 01; 30 AB - Background: The clinical utility of tumour markers in pleural effusion is still controversial with regard to the efficient detection of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Patients and Methods: The levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) were retrospectively studied in pleural effusion of unknown origin in patients who had undergone medical thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia. Results: The study included 134 patients (103 men and 31 women); among them, 33 had MPM. The level of pleural effusion CYFRA 21-1 and the CYFRA 21-1/CEA ratio were significantly different between MPM and other diseases (p<0.01). The sensitivity and specificity of the pleural effusion CYFRA 21-1/CEA ratio were 84.8% and 80.2%, respectively, when the CYFRA 21-1/CEA ratio cut-off value determined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was 19.1. Conclusion: MPM should be suspected when the CYFRA 21-1/CEA ratio in pleural effusion is greater than 19.1.