Prognostic value of postoperative CEA/CA19-9 positivity and elevation relative to preoperative levels in gastric cancer

Figure 1 Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival for patients with gastric cancer. A: Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival based on postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen elevation; B: Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival based on postoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 elevation. CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CA19-9: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9.

Figure 2 Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival for patients with gastric cancer. A: Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival based on postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level and postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen elevation; B: Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival based on postoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level and postoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 elevation.

Figure 3 Kaplan-Meier curves of disease-free survival according to postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen elevation and postoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 elevation. A: Disease-free survival according to postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen elevation relative to preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen levels; B: Disease-free survival according to postoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 elevation relative to preoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels.

Figure 4 Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival for patients with gastric cancer. A: Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival based on preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level and postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen elevation; B: Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival based on preoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level and postoperative carbohydrate antigen 19-9 elevation.

Figure 5 Exploratory Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival according to the magnitude of postoperative tumor marker changes. A: Overall survival according to size of change in carcinoembryonic antigen; B: Overall survival according to size of change in carbohydrate antigen 19-9. For carcinoembryonic antigen, mild and greater increases were split at the median positive change of 0.65 ng/mL. For carbohydrate antigen 19-9, mild and greater increases were split at the median positive change of 3.12 U/mL. These change thresholds were data-derived for exploratory analysis and should not be interpreted as validated clinical cutoffs.

Figure 6 Combined carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 elevation stratifies overall survival and disease-free survival. Kaplan-Meier curves showing survival according to combined post-preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 elevation. Patients were classified into four groups: Neither marker elevated, carcinoembryonic antigen only elevated, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 only elevated, and both markers elevated. A: Overall survival; B: Disease-free survival.