What to Do if the Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen is Elevated?
Sometimes during physical examination, one or two of the tumor markers are found to be elevated by chance, such as squamous cell carcinoma antigen, then people find it hard to sleep at night, and don't know what to do.
Ⅰ. Scope of application of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC)
Squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) was first used to diagnose squamous cell carcinoma. It is a glycoprotein, abbreviated as SCC, which exists in the plasma of uterine, lung, head, and neck squamous epithelial cancer cells, and is more abundant in non-keratinizing cancer cells.
SCC tumour marker is mainly used for cancer prevention screening and is also commonly used to monitor tumor treatment effects, such as recurrence, metastasis, and prognosis. However, the increase in SCC is not necessarily a tumor, so when the increase is found, a systematic examination and regular review should be carried out. If no tumor is found, there is no need to panic.
Ⅱ. Elevated squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) can be seen in:
1. Cervical cancer and other gynecological tumors have a sensitivity of 44%-69% to primary cervical squamous cell carcinoma. It plays a certain role in early diagnosis and disease monitoring, and the concentration decreases significantly after cervical cancer surgery;
2. Lung squamous cell carcinoma, combined detection of CYFRA21-1, CEA, NSE antibody, has certain significance for lung tumors;
3. For esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the combined detection of CYFRA21-1 has higher sensitivity;
4. Other squamous cell carcinomas: head and neck cancer, vulvar cancer, bladder cancer, anal canal cancer, skin cancer, etc.
5. Non-tumor diseases, such as liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, and renal failure, tuberculosis, pancreatitis, pneumonia, psoriasis, etc.
6. If the blood sample is contaminated with sweat, saliva, or other body fluids, it will cause false elevations.
Elevated SCC must be vigilant. First of all, the patient will be re-examined after 1-2 weeks. If it is still high, CT of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis should be checked and enhanced. If possible, a PET-CT examination can be performed. If SCC continues to rise, there are often lesions, so we must be vigilant. Early detection can be treated early, and the effect will be better.
Although squamous cell carcinoma antigen is a kind of tumor index, it does not mean that the tumor is elevated. For patients with elevated levels, analyze the reasons based on the specific situation. For patients with significantly elevated levels, it is generally necessary to improve the relevant chest or pelvic CT and cytology examinations.
We should treat the increase of antigen markers correctly, and don't panic day and night because of the increase of tumor markers. If no tumor lesions are found after systematic examination, regular review is enough.
