Cervical carcinoma antigen: distribution in neoplastic lesions of the uterine cervix and comparison to other tumor markers

Four antibodies (anti-CCA, anti-CEA, Ca-l, and anti-EMA) were used to study the distribution of antibody-binding sites in normal endocervical mucosa, metaplastic squamous epithelium, squamous epithelium exhibiting varying grades of intraepithelial neoplasia, and invasive squamous cell carcinoma. Anti-CCA, a novel monoclonal antibody raised against an extract of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, recognizes dysplastic, neoplastic, and metaplastic cervical epithelial cells. While anti-CCA and Ca-l rarely stained normal glandular epithelium, 31.4 and 45.7% of the samples stained positively for CEA and EMA, respectively. There did not appear to be significant differences between anti-CCA and the other antibodies in the frequency with which neoplastic conditions were stained. Based upon these observations, it appears that none of the antibodies tested can be regarded as a specific tumor marker.