[Tumor antigen TA-4 of squamous cell carcinoma in patients with cervical cancer]

A tumor-marker TA-4 was purified from squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix. TA-4 is a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of approximately 48,000. Although some amounts of TA-4 activity have been found in the non-malignant squamous epithelium, there is a significant difference in TA-4 release between the malignant and non-malignant tissues, resulted in the specific detection of TA-4 in the circulation of patients with squamous cell carcinoma. Clinical studies with the TA-4 RIA have demonstrated that TA-4 assay is useful to evaluate the extent or prognosis of disease and effectiveness of treatments, and to detect early recurrent disease.