Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) in Pancreatic Cyst Fluid

Immunology

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Description

The main application of all tumour markers is monitoring for relapse or progression. Use as a diagnostic aid requires care and knowledge of the test limitations. Opportunistic screening is discouraged. To distinguish mucinous from non-mucinous pancreatic cysts using a CEA cut-off. Using a published cut-off of 192 ng/mL sensitivity is reported as 75% (42/56) and specificity 84% (46/55) [1,2].

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Indications

To distinguish mucinous from non-mucinous pancreatic cysts using a CEA cut-off.

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Sample Type

Pancreatic cyst fluid.
Requests from outside Sheffield: transport at ambient temperature via Royal Mail or Courier.

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Reference Range

<192 ug/L for non-mucinous cysts.

Reference range literature derived and verified in-house [1,2].

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Turnaround Time

Within 2 days

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Testing Frequency

As required.

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References

Brugge WR, Lewandrowski K, Lee-Lewandrowski, et al. Diagnosis of pancreatic cystic neoplasms: a report of the cooperative pancreatic cyst study. Gastroenterology. 2004. 126(5): 1330-1336. [Ref 1].
Pitman MB, Brugge WR and Warshaw AL. The value of cyst fluid analysis in the pre-operative evaluation of pancreatic cysts. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2011. 2: 195-198. [Ref 2].
Sturgeon CM and Diamandis EP. Use of tumour markers in clinical practice: Quality requirements. The National Acadamy of Clinical Biochemistry. Laboratory medicine practice guidelines. 2009. [Ref 3].

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