Andreas Wannhoff, Christian Rupp, Kilian Friedrich, Maik Brune, Johannes Knierim, Christa Flechtenmacher, Peter Sauer, Wolfgang Stremmel, Johannes R Hov, Peter Schirmacher, Karl Heinz Weiss, Daniel N Gotthardt
BACKGROUND & AIMS:
Assays that measure serum level of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) are used to screen patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) for malignancies. However, in patients with PSC, cholestasis, and bacterial cholangitis, the level of CA19-9 can be affected by variants in the fucosyltransferases 2 and 3 genes (FUT2 and FUT3), which regulate production of CA19-9. We investigated how these genotypes affect cancer screening in these patients.
METHODS:
We performed a retrospective analysis of data from 209 patients with PSC (19 with biliary malignancy, 23 with cholestasis and bacterial cholangitis) treated at the University Hospital Heidelberg from 1987 through 2014. We collected data on maximum serum level of CA19-9; laboratory measures of cholestasis or inflammation; the presence of dominant stenosis, cholestasis, and bacterial cholangitis; and FUT2 and FUT3 genotypes ... Please click here to read the remainder of the abstract.
Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2015 July 17