Carcinoembryonic antigen assay in hepatic metastases detection. An adjunct to liver scanning.

In a double-blind study involving 377 patients, we assessed the value of the serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) assay as an adjunct to the radionuclide liver scan for detection of liver metastases. Fifty-seven patients studied by both methods were ultimately proved to have liver metastases. In 28 instances in which the results of both tests were in agreement, these results were diagnostic with regard to presence or absence of hepatic involvement. The CEA assay suggested the presence of metastatic tumor in eight of the 12 patients with false-negative liver scans, thus proving to be a very useful adjunct to liver scanning in the detection of hepatic metastasis.