A new assay to screen for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma using the tumor marker metallopanstimulin.

Publication/Presentation Date

10-1-2004

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To date, no serologic marker has proven effective as a diagnostic test for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Levels of metallopanstimulin (MPS), as measured by a difficult to reproduce radioimmunoassay, are significantly elevated in untreated HNSCC patients. Our objective was to develop a simpler MPS assay.

METHODS: Serum was obtained from HNSCC patients through Institutional Review Board approved protocols at the Penn State University College of Medicine and healthy volunteers donating blood at the hospital blood bank from 2000 to present. Serum MPS was immunoprecipitated, slot blotted, and Western blotted. MPS levels were quantified by densitometry.

RESULTS: Forty-eight blood donors and 45 known HNSCC patients were studied. The MPS level was 14 ng/mL +/- 1 (SEM) for blood donors and 36 ng/mL +/- 3 (SEM) for known HNSCC patients. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION: Slot blot analysis of MPS is a safe, effective, and reproducible assay that may be used to screen for HNSCC in high-risk populations.

Volume

131

Issue

4

First Page

466

Last Page

471

ISSN

0194-5998

Disciplines

Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Health Services Research | Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

15467619

Department(s)

Department of Community Health and Health Studies

Document Type

Article

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