title: Significance of tumour markers in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Ninety-two nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients were selected for a study to measure tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA), CA 125, CA 19-9, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). In all, 32 patients with chronic ENT disease and 40 healthy persons were asked to participate as diseased and normal control groups. The results showed (1) TPA was the most effective of all markers; (2) CA 125 was less useful, but had a definite correlation with TPA; (3) CA 19-9, CEA, and AFP were nearly useless; (4) the TPA level increased with advancing tumour, nodal stage, and stage groups; (5) when metastases occurred, the TPA level was extremely high; (6) the TPA level decreased significantly after irradiation at stages II, III, and IV, but increased at stage V; and (7) there was no difference in TPA level between the nonkeratinizing and undifferentiated carcinomas. This study demonstrated that the TPA marker was useful in determining the degree of NPC severity and especially for indicating the presence of metastatic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Jong
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Juan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010455:Peptides / Q000032:analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019396:Tissue Polypeptide Antigen; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D010455:Peptides; D019396:Tissue Polypeptide Antigen; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins