Carcinoembryonic antigen in carcinoma of the uterine cervix: antigen distribution in primary and metastatic tumors.

Immunohistochemical staining for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was performed on primary tumors and regional lymph nodes from 100 patients undergoing radical hysterectomies and pelvic lymphadenectomies for invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Antigen staining was present in 82% of keratinizing squamous carcinomas as compared with 50% in nonkeratinizing tumors. Seventeen patients with CEA-producing cervical cancer had regional lymph nodes metastases, all of which stained positively for CEA. Conversely, antigen could not be detected in lymph nodal metastases from primary tumors devoid of CEA. The pattern and intensity of CEA staining in primary tumors and their metastases were similar in all cases. Antigen was present in highest concentrations in the cytoplasm and tumor cell membrane of all tissues examined and isolated nuclear staining was absent. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.