Abstract
Levels of CA 19-9 in the serum and duodenal juice of nine patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PC), ten patients with chronic calcifying pancreatitis (CCP) and ten healthy volunteers (C) were determined by immunoassay. Duodenal juice was obtained by duodenal intubation during the secretin caerulein test. Elevated CA 19-9 levels in the serum were significantly more frequent in PC than in CCP patients, but two PC patients gave levels only slightly above the cut off value of 37 U/ml. CA 19-9 levels in duodenal juice were significantly higher in PC than in CCP patients, but there was some overlap between them; no overlapping was seen between PC or CCP group and controls. Two PC patients with duodenal juice CA 19-9 levels overlapping those of CCP were the same who showed only a slight rise in serum CA 19-9 levels. The CA 19-9 to total protein ratio in duodenal juice did not permit better discrimination between PC and CCP. We conclude that CA 19-9 assay in duodenal juice can differentiate healthy subjects from patients with pancreatic diseases, but it cannot improve the differential diagnosis between CCP and PC patients with a slight rise of CA 19-9 levels in serum.
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