Abstract: Background and purpose: About one third of patients with stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ colorectal cancer suffer a recurrence after radical surgery, which affects the prognosis of patients. This study aimed to evaluate the value of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) in predicting and monitoring the recurrence of stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ colon cancer patients after radical surgery. Methods: The clinicopathological and follow-up data collected from 168 patients who underwent radical resection of stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ colon cancer from 2012 to 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into 3 groups based on the results of serum CEA and CA19-9 before and after surgery. Results: The recurrence-free survival rate in the CEA (H) group was lower than in the CEA (HN) group and CEA (N) group (7.4% vs 52.5% vs 75.0%, P=0.000). The recurrence-free survival rate in the CA19-9 (H) group was lower than in the CA19-9 (HN) group and CA19-9 (N) group (7.1% vs 50.0% vs 61.9%, P=0.000). Multivariate analysis showed that CEA (H) group, CEA (HN) group, CA19-9 (H) group and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors for recurrence after radical resection in stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ colon cancer patients. Conclusion: Serum CEA and CA19-9 can be used as predictive factors for recurrence in stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ colon cancer patients and assist in the TNM staging for prognosis of the patients.

Key words: Colonic neoplasms, Recurrence, Risk factors, Carcinoembryonic antigen, Carbohydrate antigen 19-9