Role of serum carcinoembryonic antigen in the detection of colorectal cancer before and after surgical resection

Table 2 Correlation between preoperative serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen levels and clinicopathologic characteristics n (%)

Characteristics	Preoperative S-CEA		P value
	≤5 ng/mL	> 5 ng/mL
Gender
Male	167 (61.9)	103 (38.1)	0.524
Female	93 (65.0)	50 (35.0)
Age (yr)
< 40	35 (62.5)	21 (37.5)	0.178
40-60	101 (68.7)	46 (31.3)
> 60	124 (59.0)	86 (41.0)
Location
Colon	106 (60.9)	68 (39.1)	0.223
Rectum	154 (64.4)	85 (35.6)
Size (cm)
≤ 5	188 (68.4)	87 (31.6)	0.002
> 5	70 (52.2)	64 (47.8)
Differentiation
Well	176 (62.9)	104 (37.1)	0.997
Poor	83 (62.9)	49 (37.1)
PT
T1	8 (100.0)	0 (0.0)	0.005
T2	64 (72.7)	24 (27.3)
T3	141 (61.8)	87 (38.2)
T4	46 (52.3)	42 (47.7)
PN
N0	162 (66.1)	83 (33.9)	0.260
N1	64 (59.3)	44 (40.7)
N2	34 (56.7)	26 (43.3)
Lymphovascular invasion
Present	11 (47.8)	12 (52.2)	0.122
Absent	249 (63.8)	141 (36.2)
TNM stage
I	55 (78.6)	15 (21.4)	0.011
II	107 (61.1)	68 (38.9)
III	98 (58.3)	70 (41.7)

PT: Pathologic T stage; PN: Pathologic N stage; TNM: Tumor Node Metastasis; S-CEA: Serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen.