Background
CA 15-3 is a highly polymorphic glycoprotein belonging to the mucin family and is the product of the MUC-1 gene. Metastatic breast cancer is usually associated with circulating cancer-related antigens such as CA 15-3. In industrialized nations one in ten women can expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her lifetime. In the United States, it is estimated that there will be 193,700 new cases of this disease and 40 600 deaths in 2001.
While most newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer present with only local disease, where the 5 year survival rate is 96%, 42 % are diagnosed outside the breast. For these women, survival rate is 76% for those with regional disease and only 20% for those with distant metastases.
Reference ranges
0 – 32.4 kU/L
Specimen requirements
Serum (20 ul) is the recommended sample type for this assay.
Turnaround time
24 hours