title: Pretreatment levels of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen and urine polyamines in women with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether pretreatment levels of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) and urine polyamines can predict lymph node metastases in patients with early stage cervical carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pretreatment measurement of serum SCCA and urine polyamine levels was carried out for 419 women. Of those women, 104 with stage IB and IIA cancer received radical surgery and had tumor size reassessed postoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The women had increased levels of serum SCCA (>2.0 ng/mL) and elevated urine polyamines (>45 micromol/g of creatinine) with advanced cancer stage (P<0.01). The median SCCA level was significantly higher in women with metastatic disease than that in those without lymph node involvement (3.9 vs. 1.1; P<0.01). Women with nodal involvement also had significantly higher median levels of urine polyamines than those without nodal disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pretreatment measurement of SCCA and urine polyamine levels may help in predicting lymph node metastases in women with early stage cervical carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's Cancer Clinic, Yonsei University College of Medicine, C.P.O. Box 8044, Seoul, Korea, 120-752, Seoul, Korea. ytkchoi@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011073:Polyamines / Q000652:urine*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015843:Serpins / Q000097:blood*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D011073:Polyamines; D015843:Serpins; C051072:squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen