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Rosa Hwang, MD; Douglas Evans, MD

Arch Surg. 2006;141:974.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Originally described as a marker for colorectal cancer,¹ CA 19-9 has become the gold standard serologic marker for pancreatic cancer, with reported sensitivity and specificity as high as 87% and 98%, respectively.² However, known limitations of CA19-9 as a biomarker include the following: (1) elevation of CA 19-9 levels with hyperbilirubinemia of both malignant and benign causes; and (2) falsely low CA 19-9 levels in individuals with the Le(a–b–) blood group who do not synthesize CA 19-9 despite having advanced pancreatic cancer. Because the CA 19-9 antigen is also a sialylated Le^a blood group antigen,³ individuals with the Le(a–b–) blood group are deficient in a fucosyltransferase specified by the Le gene that is involved in the synthesis of the CA 19-9 antigen. About 5% to 14% of the population genotypically have the Le(a–b–) blood group and thus are unable to synthesize CA 19-9.⁴ In . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Grzegorz Cwik, Grzegorz Wallner, Tomasz Skoczylas, Aleksander Ciechanski, and Krzysztof Zinkiewicz
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