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Elevated Gastric Juice Carbohydrate Antigen 72.4 (Ca 72.4) Is an Independent Prognostic Factor of Poor Survival for Gastric Cancer Patients.

By: Edoardo Virgilio, Antonella Proietti, Rosaria D'Urso, Patrizia Cardelli, Enrico Giarnieri, Maria Rosaria Giovagnoli, Monica Montagnini, Sandra Villani, Genoveffa Balducci, Marco Cavallini

Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, University "Sapienza", St. Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy aresedo1992@yahoo.it edoardo.virgilio@uniroma1.it.
2020-01-28; doi: 10.21873/anticanres.14121

Abstract

Background/aim

As of 2020, carbohydrate antigen 72.4 (Ca 72.4) has been rarely investigated in the gastric juice (GJ) of patients with gastric cancer (GC). Our aim was to analyze the significance and role of this tumor antigen in the GJ of our GC population.

Patients

Between April 2012 and July 2013, 37 patients with operable GC were prospectively investigated to determine the GJ Ca 72.4 levels before surgical manipulation.

Results

GJ Ca 72.4 ≥6.49 ng/ml strongly correlated with the traditional categories of aggressive cancer (advanced tumor depth and stage, lymph node invasion and metastatic lymphatic ratio, indication to adjuvant treatment). It also associated with shorter survival (p=0.049) and is, thus, suggested as an independent factor of poor prognosis in GC patients (p=0.047).

Conclusion

The GJ Ca 72.4 parameter should be considered an indicator of an aggressive tumor phenotype and should be used in the prognostic assessment of GC patients.