Tumor-antigen TA-4 in the detection of recurrence in cervical squamous cell carcinoma

A radioimmunoassay for a tumor-antigen (TA-4) of squamous cell carcinoma was used to detect the recurrence in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Of 17 patients who had recurrence, 15 cases showed reappearance of serum TA-4 levels. Reappearance of serum TA-4 was faster than other clinical signs of recurrence in 11 cases. These results indicated that TA-4 assay would be a useful aid for the detection of recurrence in cervical squamous cell carcinoma.