Tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) as a tumor marker in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) is a new tumor marker that indica tes tumor proliferative rate rather than tumor burden. The purpose of this study is to assess the clinical value of TPS in patients with nasopharyngea l carcinoma (NPC). Serum levels of TPS were measured in 60 patients with un treated NPC including 36 squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and 24 undifferenti ated carcinomas. NPC patients were separated into different subgroups based on the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) TNM classification system . Forty three healthy subjects without any evidence of malignancy or other systemic diseases were included as controls. The results showed that (1) th e mean serum TPS level of the NPC patients was significantly higher than th at of the healthy controls, (2) the mean serum TPS level of NPC patients wi th SCC was significantly higher than patients with undifferentiated carcino mas, (3) the mean serum TPS levels of NPC patients with higher TNM stages w ere significantly higher than those with lower TNM stages, (4) the overall diagnostic sensitivity of TPS for NPC is 58.3%, and (5) the overall diagnos tic sensitivities of TPS in NPC patients with undifferentiated carcinomas a nd higher TNM stages were significantly higher than those with SCC and lowe r TNM stages. In conclusion, our results suggest that TPS may have a potent ial clinical role as a valuable tumor marker for NPC.