Clinical significance of serum beta2-microglobulin and carcinoembryonic antigen in patients with cervical cancer treated with irradiation

β2-microglobulin (β2-m) is a small polypeptide present in all body fluids. In recent years much attention has been paid to the high prevalence of elevated serum β2-m levels in malignancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of β2-m in patients with cervical cancer treated with irradiation therapy. For comparison, as an established tumor marker, CEA was assayed in the same samples. The results were as follows: 1. Both β2-m and CEA values seemed to relate to the clinical stage of tumor growth. 2. The patients who ended in a poor prognosis retrospectively had the significantly elevated CEA and β2-m values compared to those of the patients with good prognosis. 3. CEA or β2-m assay by themselves had not so large value in the diagnosis of cervical cancer, but an increase in number of positive cases was obtained when the two markers were jointly considered. Because when the CEA was negative, the β2-m assay was capable of compensating for this deficiency. (author)