Xu D, et al. - This study contemplated the link between serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) and the clinicopathological features of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Also, it aimed to assess the utility of SCC-Ag and computed tomography (CT) as tools to predict lymph node metastasis (LNM). According to findings, preoperatively elevated SCC-Ag level means that there may be a pathological risk factor for postoperative outcomes. It was observed that for predicting LNM of cervical cancer, especially in stages IB1 and IIA1, SCC-Ag (≥2.35 ng/mL) may be a useful marker. In addition, the combination of SCC-Ag and CT may help detect patients with LNM to provide them with the most appropriate therapeutic approach.

Methods

• Researchers performed this study on a total of 197 patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages IB to IIA cervical squamous cell carcinoma who underwent radical surgery.
• They measured SCC-Ag, and used CT scans for the preoperative evaluation of lymph node status.

Results

• Findings demonstrated that increased preoperative SCC-Ag levels were related to International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage (P = 0.001), tumor diameter of greater than 4 cm (P < 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.001), LNM (P < 0.001), and greater than one half stromal infiltration (P < 0.001).
• In multivariate analysis, LNM (P < 0.001, odds ratio [OR] = 4.399), tumor diameter of greater than >4 cm (P = 0.001, OR = 4.019), and greater than one half stromal infiltration (P = 0.002, OR = 3.680) were identified as independent factors affecting SCC-Ag greater than or equal to 2.35 ng/mL.
• In addition, in the analysis of LNM, it was observed that SCC-Ag greater than or equal to 2.35 ng/mL (P < 0.001, OR = 4.825) was an independent factor for LNM.
• Researchers also found that the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) of SCC-Ag was 0.763 for all patients, and 0.805 and 0.530 for IB1 + IIA1 and IB2 + IIA2 patients, respectively; 2.35 ng/mL was the optimum cutoff for predicting LNM.
• Furthermore, data revealed that the combination of CT and SCC-Ag displayed a sensitivity and specificity of 82.9% and 66% in parallel tests, and 29.8% and 93.3% in serial tests, respectively.