Abstract
Because they show high levels in hepatocellular carcinoma, α-fetoprotein and des-γ-carboxyprothrombin are clinically useful tumor markers for differentiating hepatocellular carcinoma from other hepatic diseases. The two are useful complementary markers of hepatocellular carcinoma because they do not correlate with each other. A typical marker of pancreatic cancer is carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9. Over a period of more than 10 years, many markers resembling CA19-9 have been identified, but none are markedly superior to CA19-9, and the sensitivity of these markers in pancreatic cancer is only 65%–80%. Tumor markers are not useful for the early diagnosis of either hepatocellular carcinoma or pancreatic cancer. They are, however, considered to be useful for monitoring after treatment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kondo H, Sugano K, Fukayama N, Kyogoku A, Nose H, Shimada K, Ohkura H, Ohtsu A, Yoshida S, Shimosato Y (1994) Detection of point mutations in the K-ras oncogene at codon 12 in pure pancreatic juice for diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma. Cancer 73:1589–1594
Watanabe H, Sawabu N, Ohta H, Satomura Y, Yamakawa O, Motoo Y, Okai T, Takahashi H, Wakabayashi T (1993) Identification of K-ras oncogene mutations in the pure pancreatic juice of patients with ductal pancreatic cancers. Jpn J Cancer Res 84:961–965
Jones HB (1948) On a new substance occurring in the urine of a patient with mollities ossium. Philos Trans R Soc Lond [Biol] 138:55–62
Fishman WH (1983) Oncodevelopmental markers. In: Fishman WH (ed) Oncodevelopmental markers. Academic, New York, pp. 4–16
Abelev GI, Perova SD, Khramkova NI (1963) Production of embryonal α-globulin by transplantable mouse hepatoma. Transplantation 1:174–180
Koprowski HZ, Steplewski K, Mitchell M, Herlyn D, Herlyn P (1979) Colorectal carcinoma antigens detected by hybridoma antibodies. Somat Cell. Genet 5:957–971
Jackson CM (1987) Mechanisms of prothrombin activation. In: Colman RW, Hirsh J, Marder VI, Salzman ED (eds) Hemostasis and thrombosis. JB Lippincott, Philadelphia, pp 135–147
Liebman HA, Furie BC, Tong MJ, Blanchard RA, Lo K-J, Lee S-D (1984) Des-γ-carboxy (abnormal) prothrombin as a serum marker of primary hepatocellular carcinoma. N Engl J Med 310:1427–1431
Fujiyama S, Izuno K, Gohshi K, Shibata J, Sato T (1991) Clinical usefulness of des-γ-carboxy prothrombin assay in early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Dig Dis Sci 36:1787–1792
Okuda K, Peters RL, Simson IW (1984) Gross anatomic features of hepatocellular carcinoma from three disparate geographic areas: Proposal of new classification. Cancer 54: 2165–2173
Nakao A, Virji A, Carr B, Iwatsuki S, Starzl E (1991) Abnormal prothrombin (des-γ-carboxy prothrombin) in hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatogastroenterology 38:450–453
Takami H (1992) PIVKA-II (in Japanese). Shokakigeka (Gastroenterological Surg) 15:1154–1156
Oguro H, Ooyagi Y, Saito A, Yokota T, Mori S, Suda T, Igasashi K, Ichida T, Uemura A, Asakura H (1991) Usefulness of simultaneous measurement of AFP and PIVKA-II in the judgement of efficacy of treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (in Japanese). Kanzo (Liver) 81:1063
Safi F, Beger HG, Bittner R, Buchler M, Krautzberger W (1986) CA19-9 and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Cancer 57:779–783
Haglund C, Roberts PJ, Kuusela P, Scheinin TM, Makela O, Jalanko H (1986) Evaluation of CA19-9 as a serum tumour marker in pancreatic cancer. Br J Cancer 53:197–202
Rothlin MA, Joller H, Largiader F (1933) CA242 is a new tumor marker for pancreatic cancer. Cancer 71:701–707
Friess H, Buchler M, Auerbach B, Weber A, Malfertheiner P, Hammer K, Madry N, Greiner S, Bosslet K, Beger G (1993) CA494-A new tumor marker for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Int J Cancer 53:759–763
Sperti C, Pasquali C, Catalini S, Cappellazzo F, Bonadimani B, Behboo R, Pedrazzoli S (1993) CA19-9 as a prognostic index after resection for pancreatic cancer. J Surg Oncol 52:137–141
Saito S, Taguchi K, Nishimura N, Watanabe A, Ogoshi K, Niwa M, Furukawa T, Takahashi M (1993) Clinical usefulness of computer-assisted diagnosis using combination assay of tumor markers for pancreatic carcinoma. Cancer 72:381–388
Sharma MP, Gregg JA, Loewenstein MS, McCabe RP, Zamcheck N (1976) Carcmoembryonic antigen activity in pancreatic juice of patients with pancreatic carcinoma and pancreatitis. Cancer 38:2457–2461
Wakabayashi T, Sawabu N, Takemori Y, Satomura Y, Kidani H, Ohta H (1993) Diagnostic significance of cancer-associated carbohydrate antigen (CA19-9) concentration in pure pancreatic juice collected by endoscopic aspiration and immunohistochemical study in chronic pancreatitis. Pancreas 8:151–159
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Takami, H., Takada, T. Clinical utility of tumor markers in hepatocellular and pancreatic carcinomas. J Hep Bil Pancr Surg 2, 395–400 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02349256
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02349256