Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels were determined in 742 postoperative patients with breast cancer. Within this group the percentage of elevated (24.0 ng/ml) assays increased with UICC clinical stage and was 14.8% (12/81), 23.7% (27/114), 73.1% (190/260) and 20.0% (49/245) for stages I, 11, 111, IV and X (unstagable due to insufficient data) patients. We have now followed the above 482 stages I, 11, I11 and X patients in whom CEA was performed C3 months after initial surgery at a time when there was no evidence of residual disease, for an average interval of 255 days from date of diagnosis. At present 16.2% (17/105) of patients with elevated CEA values compared to only 4.8% (18/377) of patients with normal values have developed recurrent disease (p < .0005). There is an association of elevation of CEA postoperatively with different clinical stages of breast cancer. Elevated CEA levels postoperatively are associated with an increased risk of development of recurrent disease in breast cancer patients. Cancer 42:1520-1526, 1978. AKCINOEMBRYONIC ANTIGEN (CEA) was C originally described by Gold3 in 1965.
Initial studies suggested it might provide an assay capable of identifying patients with colon carcinoma. The development of a radioimmunoassay led to widespread clinical studies of this antigen.7 The early promise of specificity for colon carcinoma has not beenconfirmed with the antigen and antibody preparations currently available. Recent ob-