CEA

Full Name

Carcinoembryonic Antigen

Keywords

CEA; Carcinoembryonic Antigen; carcinoma embryonic Antigen

Background

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) describes a set of highly related glycoproteins involved in cell adhesion. CEA is normally produced in gastrointestinal tissue during fetal development, but the production stops before birth. Therefore, CEA is usually present only at very low levels in the blood of healthy adults.