Determination of the SCC antigen in the serum of patients with cervical cancer

SCC (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) antigen is a fraction of the tumor antigen TA-4, obtained from squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix uteri. In a retrospective study the clinical significance of SCC antigen was investigated in sera of 119 controls, 30 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN I-III), 170 women with cervical carcinoma, and 82 patients with other malignant gynecological tumors. Radioimmunoassay was performed with a kit manufactured by Abbott Diagnostics. The limit of the normal range was 2.5 ng/ml. Elevated serum concentrations of SCC antigen were measured in 5% of blood donors, 3% of patients with uterus myomatosus, and 13% of women with CIN I-III. Pathologic SCC antigen concentrations were found in 62% of patients with primary and 73% of women with recurrent cervical squamous cell carcinomas. Only one out of eleven patients with a primary or recurrent adenocarcinoma of the cervix had a slightly elevated antigen level. The positivity rates depended on the spread of the cervical squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix and rose from 32% at FIGO stage I to 83% at stages III/IV. Only 2% of the patients with no evidence of recurrent disease after successful primary treatment of a cervical carcinoma had SCC antigen concentrations exceeding 2.5 ng/ml. The positivity rates were 33% in cases of primary vulval and vaginal carcinomas, 8% in primary endometrial carcinoma, and 15% in primary ovarian carcinoma. None of the women with primary breast cancer had a serum level above 2.5 ng/ml.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)