Clinical Evaluation of Serum Sialyl Tn Antigen in Gastric Cancer

Akihiko Watanabe, Katsunori Nakatani, Hidetomo Sawada, Yukishige Yamada, Yoshiki Yamada, Tomoaki Yano, Hiroshige Nakano

First Department of Surgery, Nara Medical University

Serum sialyl Tn antigen (STN) and several other tumor markers in 47 preoperative patients with gastric cancers and 138 postoperative outpatients followed up for gastric cancers were measured. The preoperative positive rates of serum STN, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), sialyl Le^X-i (SLX) and carbohydrate antigen 72-4 (CA72-4) in the patients with gastric cancers were 14.9%, 15.4%,15.4%,6.4% and 14.0%, respectively. Serum STN levels correlated with CA19-9 and CA72-4 but not with CEA and SLX. The preoperative positive rates of STN were higher in advanced stages such as stage III and IV with peritoneal metastases or distant lymph-node metastases. The positive rate of STN in the recurrent cases was significantly higher than that in non-recurrent cases (p<0.01). These results suggest that measurement of STN is useful for prediction of the clinical stage and the diagnosis of the recurrence of gastric cancer.

Key words
sialyl Tn antigen, gastric cancer

Reprint requests
Akihiko Watanabe First Department of Surgery, Nara Medical University
840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, 634 JAPAN

Accepted
February 12, 1992

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