In the earliest times, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was used as a specific marker for the diagnosis of colon and rectal cancer. However, it was later discovered that CEA had important reference value for many types of malignancies, such as breast cancer, lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. Nevertheless, many people do not have a clear understanding of CEA levels. So, is it better if CEA levels are lower? Let's take a look below.

Is Lower CEA Better?

CEA is a tumor marker in the body, so it is safer when CEA levels are lower. If there is a tumor in the body, it is often detected through CEA. Therefore, if a patient has abnormally high CEA levels, it is necessary to pay attention. Regular hospital check-ups are recommended, and timely treatment should be sought if any abnormalities are found. Patients also need to take preventive measures and adjust their lifestyle.

Clinical Significance of CEA

CEA was previously used as a specific marker for the early diagnosis of colon and rectal cancer. However, through extensive clinical practice, it has been found that CEA levels can increase not only in gastrointestinal malignancies but also in the serum of patients with breast cancer, lung cancer, and other malignancies. Therefore, CEA is a broad-spectrum tumor marker. Although it cannot be used as a specific indicator for the diagnosis of a particular malignancy, it still has important clinical value in the differential diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression, and evaluation of treatment efficacy of malignancies. Elevated CEA levels are commonly seen in colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, thyroid medullary carcinoma, liver cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and urological tumors. However, CEA is not a specific marker for malignancies as it can also be elevated in patients with smoking, pregnancy, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, diverticulitis, rectal polyps, colitis, pancreatitis, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, and lung diseases. Therefore, CEA has only auxiliary value in diagnosis. In addition, the level of CEA is related to the following factors: (1) it is related to the early, middle, and late stages of cancer, with higher CEA levels in later stages, although the positive rate is not very high; (2) it is related to tumor metastasis, with increased CEA concentration after metastasis; (3) it is related to the tissue type of cancer, with adenocarcinoma being the most sensitive, followed by squamous cell carcinoma and poorly differentiated carcinoma, indicating that CEA is a differentiated antigen, and the higher the degree of differentiation, the higher the positive rate; (4) it is related to the improvement of the condition, with a decrease in serum CEA concentration when the condition improves and an increase when the condition deteriorates. Continuous follow-up monitoring of CEA can be used for the observation of treatment effects and prognosis after surgery for malignancies, as well as for the observation of treatment effects in patients undergoing chemotherapy.