SynthesisJournal of gastrointestinal cancer2025
Prognostic Effect of CEA Cut-Off in Patients with Resectable Colorectal Liver Metastases: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression.
Synthesis in Journal of gastrointestinal cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Prognostic Factors for Patients Under 45 Undergoing Surgery for Colorectal Liver Metastases: A SEER Population-Based Study.Journal of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Efficacy and survival prognosis analysis of surgical resection combined with targeted therapy in patients with colorectal cancer liver metastasis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a variable used in most prognostic scores assessing the outcome of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) undergoing resection, it is unclear what the optimal cut-off is or in which patient subgroups CEA is most relevant. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prognostic effect of CEA in resected CRLM patients and to explore in which subgroups CEA is most closely associated with overall survival (OS).
methodsA systematic literature search was performed, selecting studies that evaluated a relationship between preoperative CEA and OS in patients undergoing CRLM radical surgery. A meta-analysis assessed the overall effect size of the relationship on the selected study cohorts, based on CEA cut-off. An evaluation of 21 baseline variables was performed to explore their possible effect on the relationship between CEA and OS.
resultsThe study confirms a significant negative prognostic effect of increased CEA on OS (HR 1.46, CI 1.30-1.65), but heterogeneity among studies is significant. The effect is consistent for all CEA cut-offs, although the relationship tends to weaken in more recent studies for cut-offs < 10 ng/mL. Meta-regressions also suggest that the prognostic effect may be more pronounced in the elderly. In addition, the effect of CEA ≥ 20 ng/mL on OS appears significantly reduced in the subgroup with mutated RAS carcinoma.
conclusionsFor patients with resectable CRLM, the CEA cut-off should be increased to 20 ng/mL, and evaluation in prospective studies of the more pronounced negative prognostic effect of preoperative CEA in the elderly and wild-type RAS CRLM patients is recommended.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40358861What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.