Abstract
There has been a large number of reports on the clinical usefulness of tumor markers for various malignant tumors in many medical fields, and these tumor markers are known as tumor-mediated substances but are not known as specific substances directly produced by a tumor tissue itself. Since no materials biosynthesized specifically by tumor cells have yet been discovered, tumor-associated substances have been applied widely and clinically as tumor markers for determination of clinical diagnosis and effect of treatment and monitoring progress and prognosis. Squamous cell carcinoma related antigen (SCC) was originally purified from squamous cell carcinoma tissues of uterine cervix by Dr. Kato. Among various tumor markers, it has been known to appear with high positive rates not only in patients with uterine cancer but also in those with malignant tumor in another organ. Clinical utility of this fact has been attracting attention. Fifty patients with squamous cell carcinoma in the oral cavity were therefore examined for serum SCC level and clinical evaluation was made. The serum levels of SCC-antigen were measured with an SCC-RIA (Dainabot) kit. The results were as follows : 1. The average serum SCC of 50 patients with oral cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) was 2.22±2.11 ng/ml and the positive rate was 42.0% (21/50 cases). In contrast, the average for control patients with benign oral disease was 1.46±0.47 ng/ml and the positive rate was 8.3% (1/12 cases). Statistically significant difference was found. 2. In serum SCC levels, gingival cancer of upper and lower jaws were at higher levels than another oral cancer. 3. With progress of clinical stage, namely, as the tumor grew and the lesion developed, serum SCC level gradually increased its average and positive rate. Also, in comparison with primary cancer, advanced cancer showed higher values in many cases. 4. By prognosis, the average of SCC level and positive rate for good prognosis cases were 1.54±0.73 ng/ml and 38.1% (8/21 cases), respectively. For poor prognosis cases, they were 2.71±2.60 ng/ml and 44.8% (13/29 cases). 5. As to change in serum SCC level before and after treatment, serum SCC level tended to decrease and become negative after treatment for the cases of good prognosis. For the cases of poor prognosis, serum SCC level was unchanged or increased in many cases and tended to become negative. With imminent death especially, serum SCC level was markedly high. 6. In these investigations, serum SCC level is thought to be a useful indicator for estimating progress, effect of treatment, and prognosis. Its clinical utility is considerable.
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