Objective: To assess whether squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) are useful as tumor markers of vulvar cancer.
Methods: The serum levels of SCC antigen and CEA were determined for 30 patients with invasive vulvar carcinoma.
Results: There was a significant difference not only between tumor sizes of 2 cm or larger and those of less than 2 cm (p < 0.001), but also between patients with lymph node metastasis and patients free from it (p < 0.001). Tumor marker levels well reflected the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The sensitivity to recurrence was 63%, and the specificity was 94%. In 2 of 8 recurrent cases, it was only the re-increase in tumor markers that indicated the recurrence.
Conclusion: The measurement of serum levels of SCC antigen and CEA is useful not only for preoperative evaluation of the risk of lymph node metastasis, but also for the detection of recurrence.