Comparison of Carcinoembryonic Antigen Level and E-Cadherin Expression between Metastatic and Non-Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma in RSUP, Dr. Sardjito Yogyakarta-Indonesia

Background: WHO has reported 34,189 (8.6) colorectal carcinoma cases out of 396,914 total cancer cases in Indonesia. Accumulated gene mutation and the environment can affect cell regulation, growth, and differentiation, impacting the methylation of tumor suppressor genes. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a biomarker used to detect the presence of colorectal carcinoma. Moreover, the E-cadherin gene has an essential role in tissue homeostasis, the adhesion between cells at embryogenesis, tissue morphogenesis, differentiation, and carcinogenesis stages. During instability and dysfunction in its regulation, the E-cadherin gene induces tumor progression. This study aimed to compare the level of CEA and E-cadherin expression in metastatic and non-metastatic sample groups. Method: The present study is descriptive with a quantitative approach using ANOVA one-way, unpaired t-test, and Pearson correlation analysis for the measurement and comparison of the CEA level and relative gene expression value from the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. Results: The obtained results suggested increasing CEA level and decreasing E-cadherin expression on the metastatic sample. Statistically, E-cadherin proven to show a negative r value or correlation value of CEA, even though it has a significant P-value. In other parameters, alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase indicated a positive r value and a significant P-value. Conclusion: These findings indicated the potential clinical benefit of E-cadherin in detecting tumor progressivity, supported by other significant parameters, such as alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase. Furthermore, E-cadherin was found beneficial in diagnosing the colorectal carcinoma with liver metastatis. Nonetheless, further research is needed to determine the role of E-cadherin regulation in colorectal cancer metastatis. Keywords: Colorectal neoplasms, Neoplasm metastatic, Non-metastatic, Carcinoem-bryonic antigen, E-Cadherin. © 2023, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.