title: Clinical significance of preoperative squamous cell carcinoma antigen in oral-cavity squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies have demonstrated a relationship between elevated serum squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen (SCC-Ag) levels and shorter survival in cancer patients. Few studies, however, have investigated the role of serum SCC-Ag levels in oral SCC (OSCC). This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between preoperative SCC-Ag levels, clinicopathologic factors, and prognosis in OSCC patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine OSCC patients from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital were retrospectively recruited between April 2008 and March 2010. Serum SCC-Ag levels were measured preoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An SCC-Ag level of ≥2.0 ng/mL was significantly associated with the pathologic tumor status (P < .001), pathologic nodal status (P = .037), lymph node extracapsular spread (P = .016), and tumor depth (>10 mm vs. ≤10 mm, P < .001). It was not significantly associated with histologic differentiation (P = 1.000). A univariate analysis revealed that positivity for SCC-Ag was associated with disease-free survival (DFS) (P = .034) and overall survival (OS) (P < .001). In SCC-Ag-positive patients, the distant metastatic rate was higher than in the SCC-Ag-negative patients (P = .053).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated that preoperative SCC-Ag is a good marker of pathologic lymph node metastasis, an advanced tumor stage, and a higher rate of distant metastasis. The preoperative SCC-Ag level is a potential prognostic indicator in DFS and OS, but studies with a longer follow-up period are needed to confirm these results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Wei-Hung
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: I-How
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Fu-Chan
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Jung-Ju
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chung-Jan
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ling-Ling
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Hung-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shiang-Fu
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015843:Serpins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D015843:Serpins; C051072:squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen