The
human CEA family has been fully characterized. It comprises 29 genes of which
18 are expressed; 7 belonging to the CEA subgroup and 11 to the pregnancy
specific glycoprotein subgroup. CEA is an important tumor marker for colorectal
and some other carcinomas. The CEA subgroup members are cell membrane
associated and show a complex expression pattern in normal and cancerous
tissues with notably CEA showing a selective epithelial expression. Several CEA
subgroup members possess cell adhesion properties and the primordial member,
biliary glycoprotein, seems to function in signal transduction or regulation of
signal transduction possibly in association with other CEA sub-family members.