Abstract
Serum carcinoembryonie antigen (CEA) of 133 uremic patients on hemodialysis was assayed by sandwich method of Nishi and Hirai, and moderate increase of serum CEA (2.57 ± 0.11 ng/ml, [mean ± standard error]) was found. Among those patients, significant increase of serum CEA levels was found in cigarette smokers and aged groups. High serum CEA was significantly more frequent in blood group O and B than in blood group A. In 67 of them, their serum CEA levels were compared with the history of hemodialysis, 24-hour urinary volume and various laboratory data. No significant relations were found between those and serum CEA levels. The general increase of serum CEA in uremic patients was not explainable solely by smoking, age and blood groups. It may be due to inability to excrete CEA-like substances into urine in these patients.
