Diagnostic value of the determination of carcinoembryonic antigens with monoclonal antibodies in abdominal and pleural effusion

Differentiation between malignant and benign effusions from abdominal and pleural cavities is still a difficult problem. In this study, monoclonal antibody was used to determine carcinomatous embryonic antigens in abdominal and pleural effusions of 137 cases. Fourty-eight cases were proved to be malignant and 89 cases benign. The values of carcinomatous embryonic antigens of malignant and benign effusions were (means +/- s) 35.99 +/- 44.16 and 2.13 +/- 2.33 ng/ml respectively. The difference between malignant and benign groups was obvious (P less than 0.001). If carcinomatous embryonic antigens greater than 5 ng/ml is used as a positive standard in the diagnosis of malignant effusion, the sensitivity of this method is 87.5% and the specificity is 93.26%.