Association of CA 15-3 and CEA with Liver Metastases in Patients with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Objective: The liver is the second most common site of distant metastasis from breast cancer that is usually associated with poor prognosis and low quality of life in breast cancer patients. Therefore, the primary diagnosis of liver metastatic lesions in breast cancer patients is very important. In this study, the ability of biochemical markers CA153, CEA, and ALP to be used for prognostic liver metastasis in women with breast cancer was investigated. Methods: 306 women with breast cancer recorded between 2008 and 2012 were included. Serum concentrations of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), carcinogenicity antigen (CEA), cancer antigen (CA-153), age, menopausal status, histologic type, tumor size and number of cancerous axillary lymph nodes in two groups of breast cancer women with liver metastases and without it were studied. To identify independent liver metastasis prognostic factors, logistic regression method was applied. Results: The independent prognostic factors of liver metastases in women with breast cancer are ALP, CEA, age, menopausal status, number of cancerous axillary lymph nodes and tumor size. Sensitivity and specificity analysis showed that CEA with a cutoff value of 1.1 was the most accurate predictive factor. Conclusion: The increase in the levels of CEA and ALP can be diagnostic markers for liver metastases from breast cancer.