Megakaryocyte potentiating factor as a tumor marker of malignant pleural mesothelioma: Evaluation in comparison with mesothelin
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008.
Lung Cancer. 2008 Apr 2 [Epub ahead of print] [Link]
Iwahori K, Osaki T, Serada S, Fujimoto M, Suzuki H, Kishi Y, Yokoyama A, Hamada H, Fujii Y, Yamaguchi K, Hirashima T, Matsui K, Tachibana I, Nakamura Y, Kawase I, Naka T.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy, and Rheumatic Diseases, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Laboratory for Immune Signal, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, 7-6-8 Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0085, Japan.
Abstract
Purpose: An early and reliable blood test is one deficiency in diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Megakaryocyte potentiating factor (MPF) and mesothelin variants (MSLN), members of the mesothelin gene family, have been studied as candidate serum markers for MPM. We developed a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system to compare the diagnostic efficacy of MPF and MSLN in MPM and control groups.
Experimental design: MPF and MSLN were assayed with ELISA in 27 consecutive MPM patients and 129 controls including patients with lung cancer and asymptomatic asbestos-exposed subjects.
Results: Statistically significant elevation of serum MPF and MSLN levels was noted in MPM patients in comparison with every control group. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated for differentiation of MPM and lung cancer, healthy asbestos-exposed subjects, and healthy adults. While the AUC for serum MPF was 0.879, cut-off = 19.1 ng/ml (sensitivity = 74.1%, specificity = 90.4%), the AUC for serum MSLN was 0.713, cut-off = 93.5 ng/ml (sensitivity = 59.3%, specificity = 86.2%). Comparison between AUC for MPF and MSLN values shows that MPF is significantly superior to MSLN (p = 0.025). Finally, there was a significant correlation between MPF and MSLN values for MPM (Pearson’s correlation coefficient = 0.77; p < 0.001).
Conclusions: These findings suggest that diagnostic value of MPF for MPM was better than that of MSLN although both markers showed almost equal specificity for MPM.
Keywords: Mesothelioma; Megakaryocyte potentiating factor; Mesothelin; Tumor markers
Abbreviations: MPM, malignant pleural mesothelioma; MPF, megakaryocyte potentiating factor; MSLN, mesothelin variants 1 and 3; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
Glossary
- gene
- a segment of DNA that contains information on hereditary characteristics such as hair color, eye color, and height, as well as susceptibility to certain diseases. Women who have BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations (defects) have an inherited tendency to develop breast cancer.
- differentiation
- (dif-er-en-she-A-shun) the normal process through which cells mature so they can carry out the jobs they were meant to do. Cancer cells are poorly differentiated.
- diagnosis
- identifying a disease by its signs or symptoms, and by using imaging procedures and laboratory findings. The earlier a diagnosis of cancer is made, the better the chance for long-term survival.
- cancer
- malignancy; a group of diseases typified by abnormal, generally out-of-control, cell growth.
- asymptomatic
- (A-simp-toh-matic) not having any symptoms of a disease. Many cancers can develop and grow without producing symptoms, especially in the early stages. Screening tests such as mammograms help to find these early cancers, when the chances for cure are usually highest. (See also screening.)
- tumor
- an abnormal lump or mass of tissue. Tumors can be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous).
- mesothelioma
- a tumor derived from mesothelial tissue, such as the peritoneum (lining the abdomen) or pleura (lining the lungs). More on mesothelioma.
