Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen is a subfraction of tumor antigen TA-4 isolated from a cervical squamous cell carcinoma. The specificity of SCC antigen and the factors influencing its release into serum were evaluated. Antigen concentrations were measured in 157 tissue extracts and in 188 sera of patients with nonmalignant or malignant gynecologic diseases. A commercial radioimmunoassay based on polyclonal antibodies (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago) was used. Cytosol concentrations were significantly higher (P < 0.005) in normal squamous epithelia (2 = 6040 ng/mg cell protein [CP]) and in squamous cell carcinomas (2 = 2483 ng/mg CP) of the exocervix than those in normal columnar epithelia and in adenocarcinomas of the endocervix, endometrium, ovary, and breast (2 = 1-508 ng/mg CP). Despite the high antigen concentrations in normal squamous epithelia, elevated serum levels (>2.5 ng/ml) were almost exclusively found in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinomas. The sensitivity of SCC antigen as a marker for primary carcinomas was 61%, increasing from 29% in Stage I to 89% in Stage IV. The positivity rate was higher in women with welldifferentiated (78%) and moderately differentiated carcinomas (67%) than in those with poorly differentiated tumors (38%). The results show that SCC antigen is not tumor specific. The release into serum is independent of local tissue content, but is apparently influenced by the infiltrative growth, the mass, and the degree of histologic differentiation of the tumor. Cancer 63:1337-1342, 1989. N 1977, Kato and Torigoe isolated the tumor antigen I TA-4 from a cervical squamous cell carcinoma.' TA-4 is a glycoprotein with a molecular size of 48.000 daltons which is located in the cytoplasm of normal squamous epithelia and squamous cell carcinomas of the uterine Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen is one of 14 subfractions of TA-4, purified from liver metastases of a cervical squamous cell ~ a r c i n o m a. ~ The clinical value of TA-4 and SCC antigen as serum tumor markers for cervical cancer has been demonstrated in numerous studies .2.5-15 The sensitivity is 44% to 67% in primary and 67% to 100% in recurrent cervical squamous cell carcinomas. Serum levels of both antigens reflect the extent of the carcinoma and the progression or regression of the tumor during follow-up. However, neither antigen is specific for cervical squamous cell carcinomas. Elevated serum levels are also found in 24% to 53% of patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, esophagus and From the

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The potential for immunohistochemical detection of progesterone receptors (PRs) in routinely formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded cancer tissues by use of the monoclonal antibody Mi 60-10 (mPR1, Dianova GmbH, Hamburg) was evaluated. The PR content of breast cancer tissue was investigated in 170 cases. A positive reaction to Mi 60-10 was found exclusively in the nuclei of benign or malignant epithelial cells. The distribution of PRs was heterogeneous. Immunohistochemical reaction was scored by multiplying the percentage of positive tumour cells by their prevalent degree of staining (Immunoreactive Score or IRS). The IRS values of formalin-fixed tissues (n = 170) were compared with those in snap frozen tissues (n = 82), with the PR content assayed by a DCC (dextran-coated charcoal) method (n = 170), with histopathological grading according to Bloom and Richardson and with the menopausal status of the patient. There was an acceptable ranked correlation (r = 0.74) between IRS in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded parts and snap frozen parts of the same carcinoma. A good correlation (r = 0.72) was also found, when the semiquantitative results of immunohistochemical PR detection in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues were compared to PR concentrations measured by a DCC method in tumor cytosols. There was an 80% concordance between the two methods for qualitative discrimination of PR-negative and PR-positive carcinomas. IRS correlated significantly with the degree of histological differentiation of the tumors (P less than 0.001) but not with the menopausal status of the women (P greater than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

CA 125 (Cancer Antigen 125) is an antigen identified by means of a monoclonal antibody on the surface of epithelial ovarian carcinoma cells. The serum concentration levels of CA 125 were measured in 41 women with benign and 95 patients with malignant tumours of the ovary. Immunoradiometric determination was effected by means of a kit supplied by Centocor. 35 U/ml was assumed as limit values of the standard range. Enhanced serum concentrations of CA 125 were seen in 5 per cent of the healthy volunteers of a standard group of persons, in 17 per cent of women with benign and in 78 per cent of women with malignant ovarian tumours. Patients without recurrence of tumour after successful primary treatment showed values above 35 U/ml in only 3 per cent of the cases. The incidence of pathological CA 125 serum concentration levels depended upon the histological type of the ovarian tumour and was highest in women with epithelial carcinomas, especially those with serous cystadenocarcinomas (87 per cent). In follow-up examinations of 30 patients with ovarian carcinoma over a period of one to 60 months, CA 125 concentrations correlated with the disease pattern in 90 per cent of the cases. The increases in CA 125 values preceded clinical diagnosis of the relapse by 1-8 months in seven out of twelve women. Routine determination of CA 125 appears advisable in the control of patients with ovarian carcinoma on account of the high sensitivity and specificity during follow-up.

The serum levels of FSH, LH and estradiol-17 beta (E2) were determined in 110 women aged between 38-48 years who had been hysterectomized 2-10 years previously and were compared with a control group (n = 112). In hysterectomized women both FSH and LH levels were higher than in controls during the whole 12 year period. These differences were significant up to 43 years of age. The hypergonadotropism in hysterectomized women correlates with the higher incidence of climacteric symptoms reported in the literature.