ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Chirurgia 2000 April;13(2):71-8

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Monoclonal antibody SPan-1 in detecting exocrine pancreatic carcinoma

Frena A., Mazziotti A.

Background. The great progress in imaging techniques over the past few years did not lead to the improvement of earlier diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic cancer. The search for a noninvasive diagnostic tool, capable of early diagnosis, led to the development of a series of serum tumor markers. Aim of this paper is to discuss the clinical evaluation of SPan-1 and its comparison with established markers such as CA 19.9, CEA, TPA and CA 242.
Methods. The markers were tested in preoperative serum samples collected from 46 patients operated for ductal carcinoma of the pancreas, 20 patients with chronic pancreatitis and 23 patients with other digestive neoplasms.
Results. Sensitivities, specificities and diagnostic accuracy for pancreatic cancer were as follows:
‹sensitivity (%), 67.4 SPan-1, 69.6 CA 19.9, 21.7 CEA, 78.3 TPA, 54.3 CA 242;
‹specificity (%), 69.8 SPan-1, 51.2 CA 19.9, 93.0 CEA, 37.2 TPA, 81.4 CA 242;
‹diagnostic accuracy (%), 68.5 SPan-1, 60.7 CA 19.9, 56.2 CEA, 58.4 TPA, 67.4 CA 242
Conclusions. The antigenic determinant recognized by monoclonal antibody SPan-1 is high in the serum of patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer. SPan-1 can be another useful and reliable serum marker in detecting this neoplasm, but this study indicates that SPan-1 does not greatly improve the diagnostic accuracy reached with CA 19.9.