To study the application value of preoperative serum CEA, CA19-9 and CA50 in the prediction of liver metastasis of colorectal cancer.

A total of 316 patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgery at the Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2015 to January 2017 were enrolled in this study. Among them, 158 patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastases were included in the observation group. Other 158 case-matched patients with colorectal cancer without liver metastases were included in the control group. Preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) were measured in all patients. The univariate and multivariate analysis of the above tumor markers were used alone or in combination in this study.

The results of univariate and multivariate analysis showed that increased preoperative serum CEA, CA19-9 and CA50 significantly correlated with liver metastases in patients with colorectal cancer (P<0.05). The sensitivity of CEA, CA19-9 and CA50 in predicting colorectal cancer liver metastasis was 62.7%, 57.4% and 67.1%, respectively; the specificities were 58.2%, 53.5%, 56.6%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of combined diagnosis of CEA, CA19-9, and CA50 for liver metastasis in colorectal cancer were 74.3% and 76.3%, respectively.

The preoperative serum CEA, CA19-9 and CA50 were independent predictors of liver metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer. But these three tumor markers predicted liver metastasis with low sensitivity and specificity. The combined application of these three tumor markers had higher sensitivity and specificity in predicting liver metastasis for patients with colorectal cancer and could be used as a predictive model for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer.