Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology logoLink to Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology
. 1997 Feb;123(2):128–132. doi: 10.1007/BF01269892

The correlation of CA15.3 and TPS with tumor course in patients with metastatic breast cancer

Linda C Pronk 1, Gerrit Stoter 1, Wim L J van Putten 2, Ronald de Wit 1,✉
PMCID: PMC12201851  PMID: 9030253

Abstract

Purpose: This study was performed to deter mine the correlation of CA15.3 and TPS with disease course in patients with metastatic breast cancer.Methods: Levels of CA15.3 and tissue polypeptide antigen using the M3 monoclonal antibody (TPS) were determined in the serum of 60 patients with metastatic breast cancer. CA15.3 and TPS were measured at two assay times.Results: A change of more than 25% in the serum level of CA15.3 or TPS was highly correlated with tumor response. The association between response and change in marker levels was stronger for CA15.3 (P=0.0001) than for TPS (P=0.0005). Distinct mismatches between marker changes and the tumor response were observed for both CA15.3 and TPS.Conclusion: CA15.3 and TPS are useful in the determination of response to treatment. Because of observed disagreement, marker changes can only be regarded as indicative of disease course.

Key Words: Breast cancer, Tumor markers, CA15.3, TPS

Abbreviations

TPA

tissue polypeptide antigen

TPS

marker using mAb against epitope M3 of TPA

References

  1. Barak M, Steiner M, Finker B, Abrahamson J, Antal S, Gruener N (1990) CA15.3, TPA and MCA as markers for breast cancer. Eur J Cancer 26:577–580 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beveridge RA, Chan DW, Bruzek D, Damron D, Bray KR, Gaur PK, Ettinger DS, Rock RC, Shurbaji MS, Kuhadja FP (1988) A new biomarker in monitoring breast cancer: CA549. J Clin Oncol 6:1815–1821 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bieglmayer C, Szepesi T, Neunteufel W, Nowotny C (1989) MCA, a monoclonal antibody-defined breast tumor-associated antigen and its relation to CA15.3. Tumour Biol 10:232–242 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Björklund B, Björklund V (1957) Antigenicity of pooled human malignant and normal tissue by cytoimmunological technique: presence of an insoluble, heat-labile tumor antigen. Int Arch Allergy 10:153–184 [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Björklund B, Björklund V, Brunkener M, Gronlund H, Back M (1987) The enigma of a human tumor marker: TPA revisited. In: Cimino F, Birkmayer GD, Klavins JV, Pimentel E, Salvatore E (eds) Human tumor marker. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, pp 169–180 [Google Scholar]
  6. Buamah PK, Bent DJ, Bodger WAH, Skillen AW (1993) A profile of serum CA15.3, carcinoembryonic antigen, alkaline phosphatase, and γ-glutamyl transferase levels in patients with breast cancer. J Surg Oncol 53:84–87 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hayes DF, Zurowski VR, Kufe DW (1986) Comparison of circulating CA15.3 and carcinoembryonic antigen levels in patients with breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 4:1542–1550 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hilkens J, Buijs F, Hageman Ph, Calagat J, Sannenberg A, Valk M van der (1984) Monoclonal antibodies against human milk-fat globule membranes detecting differentiation antigens of the mammary gland and its tumors. Int J Cancer 34:197–206 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Miserez AR, Gunes I, Muller-Brand J, Walther E, Fridrich R, Macke H (1991) Clinical value of a mucin-like carcinoma-associated antigen in monitoring breast cancer patients in comparison with CA15.3. Eur J Cancer 27:126–131 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Nicolini A, Ferdeghini M, Colizzi C (1993) Evaluation of CEA, TPA, CA15.3, CA 549 and TPS in the monitoring of metastatic breast cancer. J Nucl Biol Med 37:126–133 [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pons-Anicet DMF, Krebs BP, Mira R, Namer M (1987) Value of CA15.3 in the follow-up of breast cancer patients. Br J Cancer 55:567–569 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Soletormos G, Nielsen D, Schioler V, Skovsgaard T, Winkel P, Mouridsen HT, Dombernowsky P (1993) A novel method for monitoring high-risk breast cancer with tumor markers: CA15.3 compared to CEA and TPA. Ann Oncol 4:861–869 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Tondini C, Hayes DF, Gelman R, Henderson, C, Kufe WF (1988) Comparison of CA15.3 and carcinoembryonic antigen in monitoring the clinical course of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Cancer Res 48:4107–4112 [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Van Dalen A (1992) TPS in breast cancer — a comparative study with carcinoembryonic antigen and CA15.3. Tumour Biol 13:10–17 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Van Dalen A, Van der Linden DL, Heering KJ, Blusse Oudalblas A van (1993) How can treatment response be measured in breast cancer patients? Anticancer Res 13:1901–1904 [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Van Dalen A, Heering KJ, Barak V, Peretz T, Cremaschi A, Geroni P, Gion M, Saracchini S, Molina R, Namer M, Stieber P, Sturgeon C, Leonard RCF, Einarsson R (1996) Treatment response in metastatic breast cancer. A multicenter study comparing UICC criteria and tumour marker changes. Breast 5:82–88 [Google Scholar]
  17. WHO (1979) Handbook for reporting results of cancer treatment. WHO Offset Publ 48:22–26 [Google Scholar]
  18. Wit R de, Hoek FJ, Bakker PJM, Veenhof CHN (1992) A comparison of CA5-549 with CA15.3 and MCA in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Ann Oncol 3:314–315 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES