Background: Several reports have indicated that preoperative high serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels are associated with poor survival after surgical resection in lung cancer.
Methods: 82 consecutive lung cancer patients with preoperative high serum CEA levels (> 5 ng/mL) were included in this study. Postoperative serum CEA level was also measured. Prognostic indicators were evaluated.
Results: Among patients with a preoperative high serum CEA level, a serum CEA level higher than 10 ng/mL, pT status, pN status, and positive pleural lavage cytology findings were unfavorable prognostic indicators, whereas age, gender, smoking status, histologic subtype were not. Postoperative serum CEA levels of all but 2 patients decreased, however those of 28 patients did not return to normal range. Our result showed that patients with postoperative high serum CEA level had poor prognosis. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that pT status, pN status, and postoperative high serum CEA level was an independent prognostic determinant.
Conclusions: In lung cancer patients with preoperative high serum CEA levels, pT status, pN status, and normalization of serum CEA level after surgery are significant prognostic determinants.