Determination of carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen values with the radioimmunoassay method in healthy females dogs

The aim of this study was to determine reference values of carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen in 32 clinically healthy bitches. The average age of the bitches in each group was as follows: small breeds 3.50 ± 2.30, medium breeds 3.83 ± 3.21, large breeds 6.00 ± 3.22 and giant breeds 2.40 ± 2.43. The average weight in each group was as follows: 1st group 7.94 kg ± 1.84, 2nd group 22.38 kg ± 2.77, 3rd group 35.94 kg ± 7.16, and 4th group 52.75 kg ± 5.04. The cancer markers were determined using human kits. The mean values of the carcinoembryotic antigen markers ± SD were as follows: 1st group 0.18 ± 0.03, 2nd group 0.20 ± 0.03, 3rd group 0.22 ± 0.01, 4th group 0.18 ± 0.04. The statistical significance for the carcinoembryonic antigen markers was P = 0.0042**. The values of cancer antigen markers ± SD were: 4.90 ± 1.04, 4.80 ± 1.13, 5.90 ± 1.22, and 4.72 ± 0.97, respectively. The cancer antigen values were statistically insignificant (P = 0.1762). Based on obtained values of the mean 95%, we expect a standard for carcinoembryonic antigen of 0.00–0.23 ng/ml and for cancer antigen 0.0–7.00 IU/ml. The results of the present study show that it is possible to use human kits for the determination of carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen in clinically healthy bitches using the radioimmunoassay method.