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CancerQuest > Introduction to Patient Information > Introduction to Cancer Detection and Diagnosis > Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)

Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)

The carcinoembryonic antigen is a protein that is produced by embryos during development.  The protein helps cells stick to each other⁽¹⁾.  For this reason it is called a 'cell adhesion molecule or CAM'. It is not normally found in the blood in adults  Some cancers, including colon, rectal, ovarian, breast and pancreatic may produce CEA.  Because normal adults do not have CEA protein in their blood, the presence of the protein can be used to detect cancer and to determine whether cancer treatments are working.^(2)(3)(4)

It is important to note that not all tumors make CEA and that it is possible for CEA levels to be elevated for reasons other than cancer.  Like all medical tests, CEA testing is imperfect.  See the related pages on medical testing for more details.

References for this page:

1. Benchimol S, Fuks A, Jothy S, Beauchemina N, Shirotab K, and Stannersa CP. (1989). Carcinoembryonic antigen, a human tumor marker, functions as an intercellular adhesion molecule. Cell 57(2):327-334 [PUBMED]
2. Bussom S and Saif MW. (2010) Methods and rationale for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. Highlights from the "2010 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium". Orlando, FL, USA. January 22-24, 2010. Journal of the Pancreas 5(11): 128-130 [PUBMED]
3. Tan E, Gouvas N, Nicholls RJ, Ziprin P, Xynos E, Tekkis PP. (2009) Diagnostic precision of carcinoembryonic antigen in the detection of recurrence of colorectal cancer. Surg. Oncol. 2009 Mar;18(1):15-24. Epub 2008 Jul 10. [PUBMED]
4. Brooks M. (2009). Breast cancer screening and biomarkers. Methods Mol Biol. 472:307-21. [PUBMED]