Application: IP, ELISA
Clonality: Monoclonal
Host: Rat
Purification: Ig-PG
Reactivity: Human
Squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) is a member of the ovalbumin family of serine proteinase inhibitors. The protein was isolated from a metastatic cervical squamous cell carcinoma by Kato and Torigoe (1977). SCCA is detected in the superficial and intermediate layers of normal squamous epithelium, whereas the mRNA is detected in the basal and sub-basal levels. The clinical import of SCCA has been as a circulating tumor marker for squamous cell carcinoma, especially those of the cervix, head and neck, lung, and esophagus. Many clinical studies of cervical squamous cell carcinoma show that the percentage of patients with elevated circulating levels of SCCA increases from approximately 12% at stage 0 to more than 90% at stage IV. Levels fall after tumor resection and rise in approximately 90% of the patients with recurrent disease. Similar trends occur in the other types of squamous cell carcinoma, with a maximum sensitivity of approximately 60% for lung, 50% for esophageal, and 55% for head and neck tumors. The neutral form of SCCA (SCCA1, or SERPINB3) is detected in the cytoplasm of normal and some malignant squamous cells, whereas the acidic form (SCCA2, or SERPINB4) is expressed primarily in malignant cells and is the major form found in the plasma of cancer patients. Thus, the appearance of the acidic fraction of SCCA is correlated with more aggressive tumors (summary by Schneider et al., 1995). Gene expression microarray profiling analysis has identified squamous cell cancer antigen (SCCA) as an IL-13 inflammation-induced gene in tracheal epithelial cells and keratinocytes. SCCA expression is increased in asthmatic bronchiale and atopic dermatitis skin. Two isoforms of SCCA are known: SCCA1 and SCCA2. Anti-SCCA1/2 antibody is a rat monoclonal antibody which obtained from the immunization with purified, E. coli-derived, recombinant human SCCA1. This antibody can be used for the detection of human SCCA1 and SCCA2 by immunoprecipitation and ELISA.