The Autobio CEA ELISA kit is intended for the quantitative determination of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) concentration in human serum.
Carcinoembroyonic antigen (CEA) is a cell-surface 200 kD glycoprotein. It was first described by Gold and Freedman in 1965 as a complex immunoreactive glycoprotein found in epithelial adenocarcinomas of the colon and fetal colon. Increased levels of CEA are observed in more than 30% of patients with cancer of the lung, liver, pancreas, breast, colon, head or neck, bladder, cervix, and prostate. Elevated plasma levels are related to the stage and extent of the disease, the degree of differentiation of the tumor, and the site of metastasis. Its main use is in the monitoring of cancer patients after surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Successful removal of the tumor is usually followed by a decrease in the concentration of circulating CEA, whereas recurrence of the primary tumor or metastasis is accompanied by increasing CEA concentrations. Elevated serum levels of CEA may be found in a variety of benign and malignant conditions other than carcinoma of the colon. Conditions that may cause elevated levels of CEA include hepatic cirrhosis, hepatitis, heavy smoking, bronchitis, pancreatitis, gastritis, inflammatory bowel disease and renal disease.
