Abstract
The authors conducted a serum and immunohistochemical study of carbohydrate antigen related tumor markers, CA15-3, BCA225 and NCC-ST439 (ST-439) in brest cancers. In the serum study, the sensitivity was best for ST-439, followed by CEA, CA15-3 and BCA225, the specificity being best for CA15-3 and CEA equally, followed by ST-439 and BCA225, in this order. In combination assay of CEA+ST-439+CA15-3 or BCA225, above 30% of primary cases and avobe 80% of recurrent cases were positive. In the immunohistochemical study, antigens distribution of CA15-3 (DF3, 115DB) and BCA225 (CU18, CU46) was similar, but DF3 and ST-439 showed different distribution in breast cancer tissues. We concluded that the combination assay of CEA+ST-439+CA15-3 was clinically most acceptable for tumor marker of breast cancer.
