Case Reports in Gastroenterology (Apr 2011)

Gastric Cancer with a Very High Serum CA 19-9 Level

  • Kazuya Kato,
  • Masahiko Taniguchi,
  • Takako Kawakami,
  • Atsushi Nagase,
  • Minoru Matsuda,
  • Kazuhiko Onodea,
  • Hidenori Yamaguchi,
  • Mineko Higuchi,
  • Hiroyuki Furukawa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1159/000327984
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 1
pp. 258 – 261

Abstract

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Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) is a sensitive marker for pancreatic and hepatobiliary malignancies. The highest frequency of elevated serum CA 19-9 levels is found among patients with pancreatic cancer. CA 19-9 has recently been demonstrated to be a marker of digestive tract malignancies. We report the case of a patient with a gastric cancer and a very high serum CA 19-9 level. During laparotomy, a large mass was found in the antrum. A distal gastrectomy with D2 dissection of the lymph nodes was performed. Histological examination, including immunohistochemistry, revealed an adenocarcinoma of the stomach producing CA 19-9. To the best of our knowledge, no patient with an extremely high serum CA 19-9 level resulting from a gastric adenocarcinoma has been reported previously.

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