[Clinical and fundamental study of a squamous cell carcinoma related antigen (SCC-RA) for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma].

SCC-RA is one of the fractions of TA-4, extracted and purified from uterine cervical squamous cell carcinoma. I studied SCC-RA in order to evaluate its significance as a tumor marker for esophageal carcinoma. In 32 of 75 (42.7%) esophageal cancer patients, serum SCC-RA was positive. As compared with IAP and CEA, SCC-RA was the best marker to monitor esophageal cancer. SCC-RA positive patients tended to die earlier than negative ones, and it was considered to be one of the prognostic factors. In the immunohistochemical study using anti SCC-RA monoclonal antibody, both the normal epithelium and the carcinoma tissue reacted with SCC-RA. In the carcinoma tissue. SCC-RA reactivity was observed in 27 of 31 specimens (87%). However there was no correlation among the reactivity, the serum level and clinical stage. Furthermore, I studied the relationship between the tumor growth and the serum SCC-RA levels in the nude mice bearing human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma xenografts. The SCC-RA levels in mice sera gradually increased and they correlated well to the tumor volume. In conclusion, SCC-RA reflected the tumor volume and clinical stage, and SCC-RA is useful for monitoring esophageal cancer patients.