[Lack of prognostic significance of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) preoperative serum levels in patients with advanced larynx cancer].

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between preoperative serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and clinicopathological features in advanced stage of larynx cancer. The mean CEA serum concentrations were below cutoff value, which exclude the CEA as a serum marker in diagnosis of larynx cancer. However, significant correlations were found between CEA levels and tumor size, lymph node metastasis and clinical stage of the disease. The pretreatment CEA level was increased above cut-off value only in 6% of tested patients and thereby is not a prognostic factor in larynx cancer.