Considers the recent explosion of knowledge about the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family, which resulted from the molecular cloning of family member genes in 1986.
Results indicating CEA family members upregulated in cancer could have an instrumental role in malignant transformation and metastasis, while those that are downregulated could have tumor suppressive functions are considered. Reviews, recent results, hypotheses, and clinical applications regarding a gene family that, from its widespread changes in expression in tumors at many sites, should be regarded as a "major player" in...