Home
HelpTest Code CA199 Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9
EHR Test Codes
| Test Code | Test Name | |
| Atlas | CA199 | CA19-9 |
| Cerner | CA 19-9 | Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 |
Specimen Requirements
Preparation of Patient:
For 12 hours before specimen collection do not take multivitamins or dietary supplements containing biotin (vitamin B7), which is commonly found in hair, skin, and nail supplements and multivitamins.
Container Type:
Gold Top SST Gel & Clot Activator Tube
Specimen Type:
Serum
Specimen Volume:
1.0 mL of Serum minimum .5 mL of Serum
Specimen Handling/Transport:
Separate serum from cells within 2 hours of collection.
Transport ambient room temperature.
Specimen Stability/Storage:
8 hours ambient room temperature
2 days refrigerated 2-8°C
Specimen Rejection:
Gross hemolysis
Lipemic
Performing Laboratory
Munson Medical Center Laboratories
Chemistry Department
Priority, Frequency, & Turnaround
Priority:
Non-Emergent
Frequency:
24 hours 7 days a week
Turnaround:
0 - 1 days
Methodology
Chemiluminescent Immunoassay
Reporting
Reference Range:
1 - 35 IntlUnit/mL
Interpretive Data:
Biotin supplements may falsely decrease this analyte. Testing performed by chemiluminescence on a Beckman Coulter DXI/Access platform. Results may not be comparable with tests performed on other manufacturer's methods or platforms.
Critical Decision:
None
Clinical Significance
Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) is a modified Lewis(a) blood group antigen. Elevated values may be caused by a variety of malignant and nonmalignant conditions including cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic cancer, and colon cancer.
Benign conditions such as cirrhosis, cholestasis, and pancreatitis also result in elevated serum CA 19- 9 concentrations but in these cases values usually are below 1000 U/mL.
Individuals that are Lewis negative (5%-7% of the population) do not express CA 19-9 due to the lack of the enzyme fucosyltransferase needed for CA 19-9 production. In these individuals, a low or undetectable serum CA 19-9 concentration is not informative regarding cancer recurrence.
Serial monitoring of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) should begin prior to therapy to verify post therapy decreases in CA 19-9 and to establish a baseline for evaluating possible recurrence. Single values of CA 19-9 are less informative. Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) is neither specific nor sensitive enough to be used as a cancer screen.
CPT Code
86301