The objective of this review is to determine clinical practical guidelines for the use of serum @entity5 markers in the care of @entity0 @entity1 outside of clinical trials. @entity3558 antigens ( @entity2355 , MCA, CA 549) and CEA are established markers in @entity0 . Owing to their low sensitivity, none of these markers can be recommended for screening, diagnosis or @entity5 . During follow-up, increasing marker levels may indicate recurrence 3-6 months earlier than clinical and radiological examinations in about 40-50% of @entity1 . However, the clinical benefit of this lead-time is not established. @entity5 markers are able to monitor response to treatment in 70-80% of @entity1 with metastatic @entity0 . However, paradoxical changes of the markers especially in the beginning of treatment, the insufficient concordance with @entity5 activity in 20-30% of the @entity1 , and the lack of curative therapy regimens limit the prospective clinical use of the markers in the individual @entity1 . Therefore, marker changes require confirmation by radiological methods in most cases. The present data are insufficient to recommend routine use of @entity5 markers alone for monitoring @entity0 @entity1 after primary treatment or during palliative therapy. However, in the absence of readily measurable disease (e. g. bone metastases) continuously increasing marker levels may be used to indicate treatment failure. If high-dose chemotherapy in metastatic @entity0 renders to be effective, the clinical impact of @entity5 markers will increase considerably. Until that time, the analytical performance and the sensitivity of the established marker assays should be improved, and the clinical role of newer marker tests (TPS, CA 27.29) should be evaluated.

[Considerations in rational use of XXXX markers in @entity0 ].

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'patients', 'patient'] @entity0 :: ('MESH:D001943', 'Disease') :: ['breast cancer'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumor', 'Tumor', 'staging'] @entity3558 :: ('100508689', 'Gene') :: ['Mucin'] @entity2355 :: ('4582', 'Gene') :: ['CA 15-3']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['tumor']
