[Clinical evaluation of tissue polypeptide antigen in patients with esophageal, stomach and colon cancer].

Serum tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA) levels were measured in 33 patients with esophageal cancer, 39 with stomach cancer and 50 with colon cancer. At the same time five glycoproteins, namely immunosuppressive acidic glycoprotein (IAP), alpha 1-antichymotripsin (alpha 1-ACT), acid soluble glycoproteins (ASP), sialic acid and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), were measured for comparison. The mean TPA values were 59.0 +/- 15.4 U/l in 61 normal subjects, 103.6 +/- 104.2 U/l (positive rate, 24.2%) in esophageal cancer patients, 111.9 +/- 49.8 U/l (71.8%) in stomach cancer patients and 124.8 +/- 195.5 U/l (40%) in colon cancer patients. The serum TPA levels in patients with stomach cancer rose with an increased number of involved lymph nodes and with a higher degree of infiltrative growth and increased with the advancement of tumor growth postoperatively. Serum TPA levels correlated well with those of alpha 1-ACT, IAP and ASP in stomach cancer patients and with those of CEA, ASP and sialic acid in colon cancer, but not in esophageal cancer patients. It is suggested that the serum TPA might represent one of the reactant proteins and/or tumor-associated antigens that appear to be dependent upon the cancer status.