Serum levels of tumour associated glycoprotein (TAG 72) in patients with gynaecological malignancies

G Scambia, P Benedetti Panici, L Perrone, C Sonsini, S Giannelli, A Gallo, P G Natali, S Mancuso
British journal of cancer · 1990 · doi:10.1038/bjc.1990.248 · PMID:2167724 · PMC1971750
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This study found that elevated serum TAG 72 levels were present in 66% of ovarian cancer patients, correlated with disease course, but did not improve sensitivity when combined with CA 125 or SCC.

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The study measured serum levels of tumour-associated glycoprotein TAG 72 in 726 serum samples from patients with benign and malignant gynaecological conditions, evaluating TAG 72 alone or in combination with other tumour markers. TAG 72 was abnormal in 66% of ovarian cancer patients, with serial TAG 72 values correlating with disease course during chemotherapy and follow-up; in cervical and endometrial cancers, abnormal values occurred in 23% and 14% of cases, and none of breast cancer patients showed abnormal TAG 72. In benign disease, high TAG 72 levels were rare (8% in benign ovarian tumours and 7% in uterine fibromyomatosis). The paper also found that TAG 72 testing did not increase the sensitivity of CA 125 (ovarian) or SCC (cervical), and recombinant interferon alpha-2b administration to 15 ovarian cancer patients did not raise serum TAG 72 levels. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Serum levels of TAG 72 were measured in 726 serum samples from patients with benign and malignant gynaecological conditions in order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of TAG 72 alone or in combination with other tumour markers. Sixty-six per cent of patients with ovarian cancer showed abnormal concentrations of TAG 72 antigen. A good correlation was also found between serial TAG 72 values and the clinical course of disease during chemotherapy and follow-up. In cervical and endometrial cancer abnormal TAG 72 values occurred in 23% and 14% of cases, while none of the patients with breast cancer had abnormal TAG 72 levels. Among patients with benign disease only one out of 12 patients (8%) with benign ovarian tumours and one of 15 patients with uterine fibromyomatosis (7%) showed high TAG 72 serum levels. However, the determination of TAG 72 did not increase the sensitivity of CA 125 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), in ovarian and cervical cancer, respectively. The systemic administration of recombinant interferon alpha-2b to 15 patients with ovarian cancer and different basal levels of TAG 72 did not increase serum levels of the antigen.
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Abstract Serum levels of TAG 72 were measured in 726 serum samples from patients with benign and malignant gynaecological conditions in order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of TAG 72 alone or in combination with other tumour markers. Sixty-six per cent of patients with ovarian cancer showed abnormal concentrations of TAG 72 antigen. A good correlation was also found between serial TAG 72 values and the clinical course of disease during chemotherapy and follow-up. In cervical and endometrial cancer abnormal TAG 72 values occurred in 23% and 14% of cases, while none of the patients with breast cancer had abnormal TAG 72 levels. Among patients with benign disease only one out of 12 patients (8%) with benign ovarian tumours and one of 15 patients with uterine fibromyomatosis (7%) showed high TAG 72 serum levels. However, the determination of TAG 72 did not increase the sensitivity of CA 125 and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), in ovarian and cervical cancer, respectively. The systemic administration of recombinant interferon alpha-2b to 15 patients with ovarian cancer and different basal levels of TAG 72 did not increase serum levels of the antigen. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access options Subscribe to this journal Receive 24 print issues and online access 251,40 € per year only 10,48 € per issue Buy this article - Purchase on SpringerLink - Instant access to the full article PDF. 39,95 € Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Similar content being viewed by others Author information Authors and Affiliations Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Scambia, G., Benedetti Panici, P., Perrone, L. et al. Serum levels of tumour associated glycoprotein (TAG 72) in patients with gynaecological malignancies. Br J Cancer 62, 147–151 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1990.248 Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1990.248

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Antigens, Neoplasm Genital Neoplasms, Female Glycoproteins Serpins Adenocarcinoma Adenocarcinoma Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous Adult Aged Antigens, Neoplasm Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate Breast Neoplasms Breast Neoplasms Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Cystadenocarcinoma Cystadenocarcinoma Endometriosis

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