Values of SCCAg, TAP and CEA in evaluating the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for cervical cancer

Abstract

Objective To investigate the values of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCAg), tumor abnormal protein (TAP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in evaluating the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for cervical cancer. Methods A total of 100 patients with cervical cancer treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy were selected from September 2015 to September 2017 in our hospital, and 100 healthy persons were selected as the control group at the same time. The serum levels of SCCAg, TAP and CEA were detected and the relationships between the levels of SCCAg, TAP, CEA and the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were analyzed. Results The serum levels of SCCAg [(4.95±0.65) μg/L vs. (0.22±0.04) μg/L], TAP [(175.21±25.42) μm2vs. (75.45±9.98) μm2], CEA [(35.65±4.23) ng/ml vs. (1.26±0.34 )ng/ml] in patients with cervical cancer were significantly higher than those of control group, and the differences were statistically significant (t=75.382, P<0.001; t=62.215, P<0.001; t=55.452, P<0.001). Three months after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 100 cervical cancer patients, complete remission (CR) was achieved in 6 cases (6.00%), partial remission (PR) in 50 cases (50.00%), stable disease (SD) in 26 cases (26.00%), and progression disease (PD) in 18 cases (18.00%). The SCCAg, TAP and CEA levels of patients with CR [(2.12±0.32) μg/L vs. (4.90±0.52) μg/L, (133.12±14.22) μm2vs. (175.12±24.32) μm2, (10.34±2.42) ng/ml vs. (38.21±7.82) ng/ml] and PR after chemotherapy were significantly lower than those before chemotherapy [(3.22±0.47) μg/L vs. (4.94±0.53) μg/L, (145.22±17.77) μm2vs. (179.52±25.53) μm2, (16.75±3.02) ng/ml vs. (39.12±7.92) ng/ml], and the differences were statistically significant (t=11.153, P<0.001; t=3.562, P=0.004; t=8.340, P<0.001; t=17.169, P<0.001; t=7.797, P<0.001; t=18.662, P<0.001). The above indicators of patients with PD after chemotherapy were significantly higher than those before chemotherapy [(7.21±0.84) μg/L vs. (5.06±0.57) μg/L, (213.21±29.64) μm2vs. (171.56±26.87) μm2, (46.64±5.12) ng/ml vs. (35.75±7.88) ng/ml], and the differences were statistically significant (t=8.986, P<0.001; t=4.417, P<0.001; t=4.917, P<0.001). The differences of the above indicators before and after chemotherapy in patients with SD were not statistically significant [(5.03±0.57) μg/L vs. (4.97±0.55) μg/L; (175.51±23.37) μm2vs. (176.27±26.55) μm2; (35.26±7.34) ng/ml vs. (37.04±7.73) ng/ml; t=0.386, P=0.701; t=0.110, P=0.913; t=0.851, P=0.399]. The results of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of SCCAg in evaluating the neoadjuvant chemotherapy for cervical cancer were 85.71%, 81.82%, 84.00%, those of TAP were 82.14%, 77.27%, 80.00%, those of CEA were 78.57%, 77.27%, 78.00%, and those of the combined detection were 96.43%, 95.45%, 96.00%. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the combined detection were significantly higher than those of the three alone, and the differences were statistically significant (χ2=14.434, P<0.001, χ2=15.421, P<0.001, χ2=21.741, P<0.001). Conclusion The serum levels of SCCAg, TAP and CEA in patients with cervical cancer are decreased after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Their level changes can be used as important indicators to evaluate the efficacy of chemotherapy, and the combination of the three has better evaluation efficiency, which is worth for further clinical promotion. Key words: Uterine cervical neoplasms; Carcinoembryonic antigen; Chemotherapy, adjuvant; Squamous cell carcinoma antigen; Tumor abnormal protein