Background and objectives: Pancreatic cancer is generally a disease with a poor prognosis, and relationship between change of serum CA 19-9 level and progression of this disease was investigated with regard to clinical pace of disease and tumor growth.
Methods: CA 19-9 doubling time was examined in 75 patients with pancreatic cancer, including 41 inoperable cases. Then, its relation with their prognosis and change in tumor was evaluated.
Results: The doubling time of CA 19-9 and CEA could be calculated in 90.2% and 58.5% of patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer. CA 19-9 doubling time was clearly associated with survival time in inoperable and palliatively operated cases, but not with sex, age, site of the lesion, or liver metastasis, and was significantly correlated with the tumor volume doubling time.
Conclusions: Examination of CA 19-9 doubling time may be useful in clinical evaluation of the prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer and could possibly prove valuable in terms of the analysis of the growth process in this disease.
Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.