CEA

and Martina Feichter, medical editor and biologist

Martina Feichter studied biology with an elective subject pharmacy in Innsbruck and also immersed herself in the world of medicinal plants. From there it was not far to other medical topics that still captivate her to this day. She trained as a journalist at the Axel Springer Academy in Hamburg and has been working for since 2007 - first as an editor and since 2012 as a freelance writer.

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CEA is a so-called tumor marker. This means that elevated levels of CEA are measured in the blood in certain cancers - especially colon cancer and rectal cancer. However, other diseases can also cause the reading to rise. Read here what CEA exactly is, how the doctor determines it and which diseases cause elevated values.

What is CEA?

The abbreviation CEA stands for carcinoembryonic antigen. It is a glycoprotein (protein-sugar compound) on the cell surface of the mucous membranes. Physiologically, i.e. without any disease value, it occurs in the gastrointestinal tract of the fetus. In contrast, the body of a healthy adult produces only small amounts of CEA.

CEA value: table with standard values

Basically: The standard values for the tumor marker CEA are, as with almost all tumor markers, method-dependent. In addition, regular smoking has an influence on the established norm values:

	CEA normal value in the blood serum
Non-smoker	up to 4.6 ng / ml
Smoker	in 25% of cases: 3.5-10.0 ng / ml in 1% of cases:> 10.0 ng / ml
high level of suspicion of cancer	> 20.0 ng / ml

When is the CEA value increased?

The CEA is most important in colon cancer (colorectal cancer: colon and rectal cancer). The tumor marker can also increase in the following types of cancer:

Lung cancer (especially non-small cell lung cancer)
Breast cancer
Stomach cancer (gastric cancer)
Pancreatic cancer
Ovarian cancer (ovarian cancer)
medullary thyroid cancer (medullary thyroid cancer)
Uterine body cancer (endometrial cancer)

In various benign diseases, there are sometimes slightly elevated levels of CEA in the blood, for example in the following cases:

Inflammation of the liver (hepatitis)
Cirrhosis of the liver
lung infection
bronchitis
Cystic fibrosis
Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis)
Stomach ulcer
Diverticulitis

Elevated levels usually show up in the first six months after giving birth.

When is the CEA determined?

The oncologist (specialist in cancer diseases) determines the tumor marker primarily for the following purposes:

for staging, progress and therapy control as well as prognosis assessment in colorectal cancer (colon and rectal cancer)
for the clarification of unclear tumors of the liver in conjunction with the AFP value
as a second marker to the tumor marker CA 15-3 in breast cancer (to monitor the success of the therapy or as part of the follow-up examinations)
to detect tumor progression after an operation
for the clarification of thyroid nodules, often in combination with the marker calcitonin

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