ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Cyfra 21-1, measuring serum fragments of cytokeratin 19, has been found to be related to tumour stage and tumour size in patients with cervical cancer. It could be a promising marker in squamous lung cancer. We evaluated this new marker with carcinoembryonic antigen, (CEA) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) in the monitoring of 27 patients with head and neck cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The retrospective study group consisted of 27 patients, 17 not suited for surgery and 10 after laser resection. Patients were clinically staged according to the TNM-classification. The mean age of the patients was 53 years (range 37-70 years). Serum levels of each marker were studied in relation to tumour stage and clinical status of the patients during radiotherapy and 6 weeks after the end of the treatment. The clinical performance of the various assays to separate those patients with complete remission from those patients with the presence of tumour was assessed. RESULTS: Pre-treatment serum Cyfra 21-1, CEA, and SCC-Ag levels were not related to stage of disease and were not found to be predictive of tumour response. The clinical performance of post-treatment serum SCC-Ag levels in predicting the presence of tumour was not better than the Cyfra 21-1 assays. CONCLUSION: We could not conclude from this study that Cyfra 21-1 marker is an additional parameter in identifying patients at risk of residual tumour after treatment, recurrent or progressive disease. An elevation of cyfra 21-1 marker was not detectable in 70% of the cases with macroscopic tumour. Therefore, Cyfra 21-1 is not a reliable parameter for the monitoring of patients with head and neck cancer during radiotherapy.
