CEA

CEA; Carcinoembryonic Antigen

A carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test is a blood test used to help diagnose and manage certain types of cancers. The CEA test is used especially for cancers of the large intestine and rectum. Your doctor can also use the test results to help determine if a cancer treatment is working.

An antigen is a substance that’s made by cancerous tumor cells. Sometimes antigens are released into the bloodstream. The CEA test measures the amount of CEA in the blood. A high amount of CEA in your body after a cancer treatment or surgery suggests the cancer is not gone. It may also mean that the cancer has spread to other parts of your body.

Smoking can increase the amount of CEA in your body even in the absence of cancer. You should tell your doctor if you smoke.A CEA test can help your doctor find out if a cancer treatment is working. These treatments may have included surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or a combination of all three. Your doctor might also use the CEA test to help determine if a cancer has come back, or recurred, after finishing treatment.A CEA test is most useful after a diagnosis of a type of cancer that’s known to produce CEA. Not all cancers produce CEA.

Increased levels of CEA may be found in the following cancers:

• colorectal or colon cancer
• medullary thyroid carcinoma
• breast cancer
• cancer of the gastrointestinal tract
• liver cancer
• lung cancer
• ovarian cancer
• pancreatic cancer
• prostate cancer