[Clinical evaluation of serum beta 2-microglobulin in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung].

The clinical usefulness of measuring serum beta 2-microglobulin (BMG) and squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen (SCC-Ag) was studied, and it was found that both were elevated in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. In squamous cell carcinoma, serum BMG was high in patients who were more than 65 years old, whereas it was not raised in those with other histological types or with benign respiratory diseases. This increase in BMG, however, was thought to correlate with the clinical stage rather than with aging. The rise of BMG was suggested, similar to the rise of SCC Ag, to be specific to squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.