Carcinoembryonic Antigen

Overview
Department	Biochemistry
Test Code	TCEA
Synonyms	CEA
Turnaround Time	2 hours – 3 days
Stability – Add test	24 hours
Specimen Requirements
Specimen Type	Serum Plasma
Preferred	6 mL Red-Top
Acceptable	6 mL Yellow-Top
Specimen Transportation
Pediatric Requirements	Minimum 0.5 mL blood in 6 mL Red-Top
Aliquot Requirements
Sample Type	Serum Plasma
Minimum Volume	100 uL
Aliquot Transportation
Clinical Information
Reference Intervals	0.0 - 5.0 ug/L
Test Method	Abbott Alinity Ci using Abbott reagents.
Advanced Notice	Not required
Patient Preparation	Not required
Comments
CEA is a marker for colorectal, gastrointestinal, lung and breast carcinomas.  CEA levels are not an absolute test for evidence of malignancy and must be used in conjunction with the clinical evaluation of the patient and other diagnostic evidence. Healthy non-smokers have CEA levels less than 3.0 µg/mL, while 6% of otherwise healthy smokers have CEA levels up to 5.0 µg/mL.  CEA is not suitable as a screening test for the primary diagnosis of tumours. For the serial monitoring of tumours, tumour markers should be tested in the same laboratory.