Abstract
[Aim] In colorectal cancer patients, a high preoperative serum sialyl LewisX (SLX) level is associated with a stage of the advanced disease. This study was undertaken to determine the usefulness of measurements of serum SLX in comparison with those of CEA and CA19-9.
[Method] A total of 543 patients, who underwent resection for advanced colorectal cancer in our hospital between 1994 and 2002, were enrolled in this study. They were divided into low and high groups for each tumor marker respectively, and compared for their correlations with the histological curability C (Cur C) and prognosis.
[Results] The frequencies of Cur c were 41.2%, 19.8%, and 29.9% in high SLX, CEA, and CA19-9 groups, respectively, which were significantly higher than each low level group (p<0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that these three tumor markers were independent predictive factors for Cur C. The frequencies of Cur C by the number of tumor markers showing a high level were 0.7%, 5.6%, 21%, and 74.1% in 0, one, two, and three tumor markers, respectively. It showed that the number of high tumor markers correlated with the progression of the stage (p<0.0001). The five-year disease-specific survival rates were 90.9%, 71.1%, 64.9%, and 17.4%, respectively (p<0.0001).
[Conclusion] The measurement of serum SLX level in patients with advanced colorectal cancer enabled us to gain more accurate preoperative prediction of histological curability and prognosis compared to the measurements of only serum CEA and CA19-9.
