Preoperative serum CA 72.4 as prognostic factor of recurrence and death, especially at TNM stage II, for colorectal cancer.

Background: Nowadays, evaluation of colorectal cancer prognosis and decision-making for treatment continues to be based primarily on TNM tumour stage. Administration of adjuvant chemotherapy is especially challenging for stage II patients that can have very different disease-related outcomes. Therefore, more reliable prognostic markers need to be developed to improve the selection of stage II patients at high risk for recurrence.

Clinical interest of the combined use of serum CD26 and alpha-L-fucosidase in the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

The purpose of this study was to assess if the combination of CD26 and alpha-L-fucosidase has a role in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, paying particular attention to the stages in which the tumour is not yet disseminated. CD26 concentration and alpha-L-fucosidase activity were determined in sera from 110 colorectal cancer patients and 46 donors. The combination of CD26 and alpha-L-fucosidase showed a specificity of 100% with a sensitivity of 64% in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer.