Monitoring the Upward Trend of Tumor Marker Levels in Breast Cancer Patients after Surgery.

Background: Tumor markers refer to a class of substances that are characteristic of malignant tumor cells or abnormally produced by malignant tumor cells, and can reflect the occurrence and development of tumors.

Methods: We report a case of breast cancer where the level of tumor markers after radical mastectomy has been monitored. The physician questioned the significantly elevated carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) results. We use different detection platforms to assess the possibility of false elevation of CA50. We simultaneously use PET-CT and other examinations to identify the cause of elevated CA50.

Results: We rechecked the samples with suspicious CA50 results on different testing platforms and found that the results were not significantly different. Reviewing the medical history, it was found that the patient's CA50 level had slightly increased compared to the reference range three months ago, and showed a significant upward trend compared to the previous CA50 level test, but did not receive sufficient attention and corresponding examination and treatment. During this examination, the patient's CA50 level increased by up to 8 times compared to the normal range. The patient underwent whole body PET-CT examination and found liver metastasis of breast cancer.

Conclusions: When using tumor markers for dynamic monitoring of breast cancer patients, clinicians should pay special attention to the trend of tumor markers, even if it is only slightly higher than the reference range, they should also take necessary inspection and treatment to avoid further development of the tumor leading to irreparable loss of patients.