EXPRESSION OF TISSUE AND SERUM MUCIN-LIKE CARCINOMA-ASSOCIATED ANTIGEN (MCA) IN BREAST-CANCER - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS

The Mucin-like Carcinoma Antigen (MCA) was evaluated in serum and tiss ue of 72 breast cancer patients and correlated with clinical and biolo gical parameters: menopausal and receptor status, lymphnode in volveme nt, tumor size and nuclear grading. No significant difference was foun d between serum and tissue MCA with regard to the parameters analyzed, demonstrating that MCA evaluation is not useful to distinguish betwee n different subgroups of breast cancer patients. The statistical analy sis revealed a weak qualitative correlation (p=0.05) between serum and tissue MCA but no quantitative correlation, suggesting that MCA produ ction and secretion are independent processes.