title: Tissue expression of Squamous Cellular Carcinoma Antigen (SCCA) is inversely correlated to tumor size in HCC.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to investigate squamous cellular carcinoma antigen (SCCA) in serum and in tumoral and paired peritumoral tissues. We studied 27 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 55 with HCC: 20 with a single nodule < 3 cm (s-HCC) and 35 with a single nodule > 3 cm or multifocal (l-HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum SCCA was measured by the ELISA kit, and in frozen tissues by immunohistochemistry, quantified with appropriate imaging analysis software and expressed in square microns. Continuous variables are reported as means and 95% confidence intervals. Comparisons between independent groups were performed with a generalized linear model and Tukey grouping. Pearson's correlation coefficients were determined to evaluate relations between markers. Qualitative variables were summarized as count and percentage. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum SCCA values in LC patients were 0.41 (0.31-0.55) ng/ml and statistically different from both HCC groups: 1.6 (1.0-2.6) ng/ml in s-HCC, 2.2 (1.28-2.74) ng/ml in l-HCC. SCCA in hepatic tissue was 263.8 (176.6-394.01) microm2 in LC patients, statistically different from values in s-HCC: 1163.2 (863.6-1566.8) microm2 and l-HCC: 625.8 (534.5-732.6). All pairwise comparisons between groups yielded statistically significant differences. Tumoral SCCA resulted linearly related with nodule size, showing a statistically significant inverse relation between the two variables (b = -0.099, p = 0.024).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no statistically significant correlation between tissue and serum levels of SCCA. The significantly stronger expression of SCCA in smaller compared to larger HCC could be important for early HCC detection. However, the increased expression in peritumoral tissue could affect the significance of serological detection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Section of Internal Medicine, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy. ptrerotoli@stamed.uniba.it
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trerotoli
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fransvea
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Angelotti
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Antonaci
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lupo
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzocca
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangia
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Antonaci
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giannelli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015843:Serpins / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015843:Serpins; C051072:squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen