Wertigkeit der Computertomographie und der Tumormarker zur Beurteilung von Lokalrezidiven beim operierten und nachbestrahlten Rektumkarzinom

Detection of Recurrent Rectal Carcinoma after Surgery and Radiotherapy. In patients with rectal cancer after surgery and radiotherapy tumor markers with clinical history, clinical examination, and computed tomography yield important hints in respect to recurrences. We investigated 67 persons, including 23 persons with prooved recurrence in order to compare the value of computed tomography with the tumor markers CEA and CA19.9 in detection of local recurrence. Summing up computed tomography demonstrated the highest sensitivity and accuracy, followed by CEA. CA19.9 seems to be unsuitable for the detection of recurrent rectal cancer. In the course of time computed tomography was the first method to discover a recurrence, CEA was closely linked to the progress of growth, while CA19.9 was not able to detect a recurrent cancer during follow-up. The combination of CT and CEA seems to be a reliable tool for an early detection of local recurrence after operation and radiation treatment of rectal carcinoma