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The increase of the tumor marker CA 72-4

Cancer is a terrible disease that each year takes hundreds of lives. In recent years, with the rapid development of immunology and implementation of diagnostic methods were determined in body fluids immunogenic substances, which are produced by tumor cells.

These substances are called tumor markers. From a biochemical point of view, the markers are proteins, hormones, lipids and sugar molecules that are secreted by cancer cells in body fluids, and can also be located on the cell surface or derived from non-tumor cells, which stimulate the adjacent proliferative changes.

What is the tumor marker CA 72-4?

For cancer diagnosis and monitoring of proliferation of abnormal cells, tumor markers circulating in the patient's blood. You can not definitely say that the person is suffering from cancer, whereas only one diagnostic study at the level of the tumor marker in the blood.

opuholevye markeryTumor markers, also called indicators of cancer, chemicals that have a different structure, occur in the tissues of the body through the blood. In healthy tissues, very few of them. But when there is a tumor, the cells begin to produce these substances. Some cancer markers are present in the body in utero and reach very high concentrations, but then disappear. In the adult, under normal circumstances, they are absent or in very low concentrations. They get into the blood and circulation in the body. The increase in biochemical markers may or may not necessarily indicate the current process of cancer. For example, the increase of the tumor marker CA 72-4 in gastritis will show higher than normal, about 13-16 ml/l.

Marker with high accuracy is the one that may completely and correctly discover among the respondents of this disease which must be diagnosed. The markers are characterized by two main parameters:

  • Sensitivity;
  • Specificity.

Sensitivity and specificity are in the opposite direction: a marker with high sensitivity, as a rule, lower specificity and Vice versa. The high level of sensitivity causes a large number of false positives, reducing the specificity. Marker "ideal" is one that has full sensitivity and specificity.

Stomach cancer is a malignant common among people of a tumor. Worldwide, it is the second cause of death from malignant neoplasms, although some statistical analyses, this indicator is gradually decreasing. That's why it's so important to find the best marker that will allow to identify early cancer development and then to carefully monitor patients after surgery is potentially radical for the early detection of recurrence.

The importance of tumor markers

Tumor markers began to be studied about 40 years ago. The first scientific work on their study argued that each type of tumor is characterized by its distinctive marker. Later scholars have argued that single case of cancer, can generate a few markers. In addition, one type of tumor can produce tumor markers in the blood, which is characteristic of another type of cancer. For example, the identified blood marker CA 72-4 marked characteristic of ovarian tumor and also may mean that the patient is suffering from stomach cancer.

This suggests that the token can not confirm 100 % disease and point to a specific type of cancer. To do this, physicians use other diagnostic methods. But it is worth noting the importance of tumor markers in the diagnosis – they may identify a cancer that is at a very early stage of development.

The study of CA 72-4

CA 19-9, CA 72-4 and the main tumorthe markers used for the diagnosis of gastric cancer. Carcinoembryonic antigen (this is the transcript of the tumor marker CA 72-4) was first isolated in 1965.

Its concentration is increased in the presence of cancer such bodies:

  • onkomarker ca 72-4colon;
  • pancreas;
  • the cervix;
  • rectum;
  • light;
  • stomach.

The rate of gastric tumor marker CA 72-4 in the blood should be 5 mg/L. the Diagnostic utility of the method is limited by low sensitivity in gastric cancer, and this means that proper maintenance does not exclude the presence of a tumor. Definitely more important is the marker for monitoring patients with colorectal cancer, detection of metastases or local recurrence. Elevated tumor marker CA 72-4 happens in the case of carcinoma of the stomach and depends on the stage of disease progression.

The study in recent years, most patients with gastric cancer examined the level of three tumor markers in the blood before the operation. Many studies have shown very high levels of one of the three markers CA 72-4 and CA 19-9 before surgery. This may indicate that in the lymph nodes is metastasis.