Serological and Immuno-Histological Study of Tissue Polypeptide Antigen (TPA) in Gynecological Malignancies

Histological localization of Tissue Polypeptide Antigen (TPA) was studied by immunohistochemical technique as well as measurement of serum TPA levels by radioimmunoassay in various gynecological malignancies including uterine precancerous lesions and trophoblastic disease. Measurement of serum TPA levels in 75 patients revealed that serum levels and positive rates of TPA in invasive cancer were significantly higher than those in normal women, but those in precancerous lesions were low. In 82 cases, the overall positive rates for tissue TPA immunostaining was 49%. There was no definite difference between the histological types and progress of malignancy and the positive rate for tissue TPA staining. In all of 15 patients with positive TPA, serum TPA levels were significantly reduced and turned negative after appropriate effective treatments. In 11 cases of them searched for immunohistological reactivity, a higher positive result was shown in 9 cases (82%). Furthermore, serum TPA level of 160 U/l was considered critical value for predicting immunohistological positivity. In conclusion, TPA could be a useful subordinate tumor marker in many patients with gynecological malignancies from serological and immunohistological points of view