Letter to the Editor: Is CEA Better than CYFRA 21-1 in the Monitoring of Squamous Cell Lung Cancer Progression?

CEA is presently considered the best serum tumor marker (STM) in monitoring the progression of several tumors, particu-larly colorectal cancer which has metastasized. However, in the follow-up of squamous lung cancer the detection of CYFRA 21-1 has been shown to be better than CEA. In 45 patients with nonsurgically resectable squamous lung cancer, followed in our center with a median observation of 12 months (range 6–24), CEA and CYFRA 21-1 levels were measured every 3 months in the postchemotherapeutic period while the dis-ease was in remission or stabilized. If an STM showed an increase of 10%, when compared with the previous measurement, its level was controlled 30 days later. This evaluation schedule, however, was not performed if the patient presented a possible nonspecific cause of marker elevation such as any inflammatory process.