Elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in patients with true (epithelial) splenic cysts--Rare or undiscovered?

摘要

Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 is a well known marker for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. However, its limitation is its nonspecificity, because elevated levels may be encountered in other gastrointestinal disorders, both benign and malignant. The following case is a patient with a true (epithelial) splenic cyst with elevated serum levels of carbohydrate antigen 19-9.