Cancer of the uterine cervix: Clinical value of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) measurements

The clinical value of SCC levels has been evaluated in four groups of women affected by cervical carcinoma. Among the 116 newly diagnosed patients, the SCC pretreatment level was elevated in 57% of-cases and was;strictly con-elated with clinical stage (Ib to IV: p= <0.01) and histotype (squamous cell carcinoma versus others: p= 0.0005). No significant difference was found in relation to nodal status. For the 28 patients submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy clinical response was correlated with the change in serum SCC level: stable or rising serum level indicated that the disease was unchanged or progressive, respectively. In the group of 48 patients affected by recurrent carcinoma a raised SCC level was found in 71% of cases, with a lead time ranging from 0 to 12 months. No identification of the site of recurrence could be extrapolated from the value of SCC. As to the 108 regularly monitored patients, no significant difference in the risk to develop recurrence was shown for patients with a raised SCC level at the lime of primary diagnosis (NED versus relapsed: p = > 0.05).