Value of tumor-antigen (TA-4) of squamous cell carcinoma in predicting the extent of cervical cancer.

The value of a tumor-antigen (TA-4) of squamous cell carcinoma in evaluating the extent of disease was studied in patients who primarily had surgical treatments with a diagnosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Pretreatment serum TA-4 levels were determined by a radioimmunoassay method. The extent of disease was determined by surgical evaluation and postoperative histologic examinations. Furthermore, all patients were followed for at least two years, and those patients who developed recurrence at the sites which were unresectable by radical hysterectomy were retrospectively regarded as the unresectable case. It was found that serum TA-4 levels reflected the extent of disease, and that high pretreatment TA-4 levels indicated the presence of the widespread tumor which was unresectable by radical hysterectomy.