ReviewSystematic review of carbohydrate antigen (CA 19-9) as a biochemical marker in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer
Section snippets
Literature search and data extraction strategy
A computerised search was made of the MEDLINE database for the period from January 1990 to December 2005 inclusive. The OVID search engine (Version 9; Ovid Technologies, New York, NY, USA) was employed. The MESH headings Pancreatic neoplasm, diagnosis, CA19-9, CA 50, CEA, Dupan-2, Span-1, Serum tumour markers were used. The search was restricted to articles in English and documents relating to humans. This resulted in 348 hits. The abstracts of these reports were then retrieved and studied. At
Carbohydrate antigen (CA 19-9)
CA 19-9 is a predominantly carbohydrate antigen which was defined from the culture medium of a colorectal cancer cell line. It is a high molecular weight glycolipid derived from a monoclonal antibody isolated from mice, which is immunised with a human colon cell line. Twenty-two reports3, 12, 18, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 address the role of CA 19-9 in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. With the sole exception of Jang's study18, all reports use
Discussion
A tumour marker that allows for the reliable diagnosis of pancreatic cancer has proved elusive. Many studies have examined markers in a large number of patients but despite this it remains difficult to draw definitive conclusions. This systematic review has examined the available reports on the use of biochemical markers for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The search parameters and history are described so that the yield can be independently duplicated. As with all systematic reviews it
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