SCC-antigen, a tumor marker with poor reliability for ENT, head and neck carcinomas. The role of the squamous cell carcinoma-antigen (SCC-A) in diagnosis and follow-up of patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck. Results of a six years retrospective study.

Background: In the early 1970s, progress in chemical analysis allowed the assessment of low concentration substances in blood and other body fluids. These techniques led to development of hitherto unknown diagnostic facilities which were tested with respect to malignant tumors. In those days SCC-A was considered a promising substance for aiding in diagnosis and observation in patients with SCC. Methods: This retrospective study investigates the correlation between tumor size and tumor progress and the SCC-A level in a group of 322 patients (male: n=291, age 24-87 yrs, mean 56 yrs; female: n = 31, age 38-82 yrs, mean 70 yrs). Results: The diagnostic value of SCC-A turned out to be poor. In 78%, SCC-A levels were low and neither correlated with tumor size nor the presence of metastases. In follow-up the situation was even worse: A reliable correlation between SCC-A and the course of disease was found in 5.8% of patients only. Conclusion: The SCC-A could neither reliably contribute to diagnosis nor to follow-up of patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.