A STUDY OF CARBOHYDRATE ANTIGEN 19-9 LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH BENIGN AND MALIGNANT COLORECTAL TUMORS IN RELATION TO THE LEVEL OF IMMUNOGLOBULINS

Abstract

Background: CA19-9 has been regarded as an important tumor marker that is related to the presence of colon and rectal tumors.Objective: To determine the concentration of serum CA19-9 and immunoglobulins in patients with benign and malignant colotrectal tumors, in addition to the determination of the correlation coefficients between the concentrations of CA19-9 and the different types of immunoglobulins.Materials & Methods: Patients: The subjects were 31 patients with malignant colorectal tumor, 31 patients with benign colorectal tumor and 31 volunteers healthy subjects.Methods: The determination of the total concentrations of CA19-9 was carried out according to the procedure of IRMA, while the determination of the concentrations of immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM and IgG) was carried out using the radial immunodiffusion method RID.Results: Results of the present study showed that the concentration of serum CA19-9 was significantly elevated in patients with stages B, C and D (modified Duke classification) of colorectal carcinoma, while there was no significant variation in the concentrations of CA19-9 in sera of patients with benign lesion in comparison with control individuals. The results also showed that there was a significant correlation coeficient (r = 0.875) between the concentration of serum IgA and that of CA19-9 in patients with malignant tumors.Conclusions: The humoral immunity, reflected by immunoglobulins was characterized by an increase in IgA level in serum of patients with colorectal carcinoma and this was concomitant with an increase in serum CA19-9.