CEA screening for bowel cancer is not very accurate and there is no accurate data available. Strictly speaking, CEA is only a tumor marker, and whether it is normal or elevated, there is no way to determine whether it is bowel cancer directly.
CEA was first found in colon cancer and fetal intestinal tissues, but its specificity is not high. Many other diseases can be accompanied by increased CEA, such as gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, breast cancer, lung cancer, medullary thyroid carcinoma and so on.
Increased CEA can also be seen in non-neoplastic diseases such as intestinal obstruction, pancreatitis, colon polyps, ulcerative colitis, and cirrhosis of the liver. Some normal people, such as smokers and the elderly, can also have elevated CEA.
Therefore, a slight increase in CEA, not accompanied by any other symptoms and abnormalities on examination, is often of little clinical significance. However, if CEA is significantly elevated, tumor-related diseases, not only bowel cancer, need to be excluded. It is necessary to combine the clinical symptoms as well as other examination results to determine the next examination plan and treatment plan.
Abnormal CEA test, it is recommended to seek medical treatment as soon as possible, improve other tests, find the cause of the disease, and symptomatic treatment.