[The clinical value of sialyl SSEA-1 antigen in patients with gynecologic tumors].

In order to estimate the clinical significance of sialyl SSEA-1 antigen, the antigen was measured with an "FH-6" Otsuka Kit in sera from patients with various gynecologic tumors. Among the patients with uterine malignancies and benign ovarian tumors, the incidence of elevated sialyl SSEA-1 antigen levels was very low. However, among the patients with ovarian malignancies, serum sialyl SSEA-1 antigen was significantly increased in the following order: clinical stage I (40%), stage II (67%) and stage III (75%). The serum antigen values were also correlated with the effect of treatment. In addition, high antigen values were also observed in all 14 malignant ovarian cyst fluids tested. The immunohistochemical localization of sialyl SSEA-1 antigen was determined by an immunoperoxidase method using FH-6 monoclonal antibody. A weak positive reaction was observed in normal glands of female genital tracts. However, the intense staining was shown on the mocus materials or on the luminal surface of some malignant glands as well as in the cytoplasm of some adenocarcinoma cells of gynecologic malignancies, although there were few positive cases or positive cells. Thus, sialyl SSEA-1 antigen appears to be a useful marker in the diagnosis of ovarian malignancies.