B. Bjorklund et R. Einarsson, TPS (TISSUE POLYPEPTIDE SPECIFIC ANTIGEN) IN ONCOLOGIC PRACTICE - A REVIEW WITH REFERENCE TO 3000 CASES OF BREAST-CANCER, Tumordiagnostik & Therapie, 17(3), 1996, pp. 67-73
TPS is an antigenic determinant associated with human cytokeratin 18,
an acid-type intermediate filament protein. TPS is detected by a monoc
lonal antibody (M3), which was raised against human carcinoma cell pre
parations. The value of measuring circulating TPS lies in the early de
tection of disease recurrence and in the rapid assessment of the effic
acy of treatment. In this review, the last 4 year studies of more than
3000 breast cancer patients are reported. The studies provide the mos
t comprehensive, recent information about the clinical significance of
TPS in breast cancer. TPS is a marker of tumor cell activity. It is n
ot related to tumor burden. For clinical and routine use, the main ind
ication of TPS in breast cancer is to monitor the activity of the dise
ase and to measure the efficacy of therapy in patients with metastatic
breast cancer. Despite certain limitations regarding sensitivity and
specificity in the diagnosis of primary breast cancer, the use of the
TPS assay has steadily achieved an increasing acceptance for monitorin
g the course of cancerous activity in breast cancer patients during an
d after adjuvant treatment. The combined use of TPS and a marker measu
ring tumor burden increases the sensitivity of detection of recurrent
disease, but at the same time a certain decrease in specificity will o
ccur.