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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2026; 32(9): 114200
Published online Mar 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i9.114200
Published online Mar 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i9.114200
Perioperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen: Powerful marker for prognostic prediction and adjuvant chemotherapy decision-making in patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer
Fen-Qi Du, Wen-Jie Song, Da Yang, Yan-Long Liu, Jin-Xue Tong, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin 150081, Heilongjiang Province, China
Jia-Lu Liu, Liu-Dan Mai, Xin-Hao Han, Qiu-Ju Zhang, Department of Biostatistics, Public Health School of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, Heilongjiang Province, China
Qiu-Ju Zhang, Health Management Centre, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin 150081, Heilongjiang Province, China
Rui Zhang, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shenyang 150040, Liaoning Province, China
Co-first authors: Fen-Qi Du and Jia-Lu Liu.
Co-corresponding authors: Yan-Long Liu and Jin-Xue Tong.
Author contributions: Tong JX and Liu YL conceptualized and designed the research; Du FQ, Liu YL, Zhang R, Song WJ and Yang D screened patients and acquired clinical data; Liu YL, Liu JL, Mai LD, Han XH and Zhang QJ performed data analysis; Du FQ, Tong JX and Liu YL wrote the paper. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript. Tong JX and Liu YL proposed, designed and conducted serum carcinoembryonic antigen analysis and prepared the manuscript. Tong JX and Liu YL have played important and indispensable roles in the experimental design, data interpretation and manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors. Du FQ responsible for patient screening, enrollment, collection of clinical data, figure plotting, comprehensive literature search and manuscript preparation. Liu JL was instrumental and responsible for data analysis and interpretation, figure plotting and comprehensive literature search. Both Du FQ and Liu JL have made crucial and indispensable contributions towards the completion of the project and thus qualified as the co-first authors of the paper.
Supported by Heilongjiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China, No. PL2024H173; and Nn10 Project of Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, No. 04000079.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Harbin Medical University (No. HMUIRB2024014) on 22 October 2024 and the Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute (No. 2019G0209) on 25 February 2019.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Jin-Xue Tong, Professor, Department of Colorectal Surgery, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, No. 150 Haping Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150081, Heilongjiang Province, China. 601705@hrbmu.edu.cn
Received: September 22, 2025
Revised: November 26, 2025
Accepted: January 12, 2026
Published online: March 7, 2026
Processing time: 167 Days and 4.9 Hours
Revised: November 26, 2025
Accepted: January 12, 2026
Published online: March 7, 2026
Processing time: 167 Days and 4.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Perioperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an important prognostic predictor and stratification marker, and it is reasonable to apply perioperative CEA to guide postoperative follow-up of stage II and III colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. The nomogram model based on perioperative CEA can well predict the 3-year, 5-year, and 7-year overall survival and disease-free survival of stage II and III CRC patients. Perioperative CEA can be used to assess recurrence or metastasis features of stage II and III CRC patients. Perioperative CEA, especially postoperative CEA, has the potential to guide adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II and III CRC patients, which is worthy of further study.