Determination of CA 19-9 antigen in serum and pancreatic juice for differential diagnosis of @entity788 from XXXX .

@entity1 @entity788 @entity5 @entity1689 @entity189
Serum CA 19-9 levels were measured in 63 @entity1 with ductal @entity788 and in 49 @entity1 with @entity1689 . Concentrations were abnormally high (greater than 40 U/ml) in 57 (90%) @entity1 with @entity5 and only in 5 (10%) @entity1 with @entity1689 . All @entity1 with falsely normal serum values had poorly differentiated @entity189 . Median CA 19-9 concentrations were progressively higher in @entity1 with more @entity5 . Fifteen of 16 (93%) @entity1 with @entity5 has abnormal serum levels but only 5 (31%) of them had values greater than 120 U/ml, which was the highest score observed in @entity1 with @entity1689 . Pure pancreatic juice was obtained endoscopically from 23 @entity1 with @entity788 and from 20 with @entity1689 . CA 19-9 concentrations in pancreatic juice were significantly higher in @entity1 with @entity5 than in non-neoplastic @entity1 . All 11 @entity1 with resectable @entity5 investigated had a ratio of CA 19-9 to secretory protein concentration in pancreatic juice above the range of @entity1 with @entity1689 . We conclude that serum CA 19-9 determination is highly sensitive and specific for the differential diagnosis of @entity788 versus @entity1689 . However, moderately increased values (less than 120 U/ml), as seen in @entity1 with localized @entity788 , are not conclusive for @entity5 . The measurement of CA 19-9 to total protein ratio in pure pancreatic juice is proposed as an adjunctive, accurate diagnostic marker for early stages of @entity788 .
