Serum tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA) in thyroid cancer.

Serum tissue polypeptide antigen, (TPA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), calcitonin (CT) and thyroglobulin (Tg) have been measured by specific radioimmunoassays in 174 patients with various types of thyroid cancer previously submitted to thyroidectomy. Elevated serum TPA concentrations were found in 12 of 13 patients with local invasion or distant metastases from undifferentiated thyroid cancer or thyroid lymphosarcoma, while serum Tg and CEA values were normal or undetectable. In 123 patients with well differentiated thyroid cancer serum TPA was usually normal regardless of the presence or absence of functioning metastases. On the contrary, 14 of 15 patients with "dedifferentiated" metastases from previously differentiated thyroid cancer had elevated serum TPA values, while serum CEA was normal and serum Tg variable. Serum CT was confirmed as the most sensitive marker of metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma, but elevated serum TPA values were also found in most of these cases. The present data indicate that serum TPA provides a new humoral marker in the follow-up of undifferentiated and "dedifferentiated" thyroid carcinoma and may also be usefully employed as an additional marker for medullary thyroid carcinoma.