Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the value of combined assays of serum EBNA1-IgA and EA-IgG for serological diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: The serum EBNA1-IgA and EA-IgG were tested by use of ELISA for 56 patients with NPC and 58 healthy adults. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, accuracy rate and odds ratio of the 2 tests used singly or in combination were compared with each other. Results: The sensitivity of EBNA1-IgA test (91.09%) was higher than that (87.50%) of EA-IgG test. The specificity of EA-IgG test (87.93%) was higher than that (84.48%) of EBNA1-IgA test. The combined usage of EBNA1-IgA and EA-IgG could enhance the specificity (94.83%), predictive value of a positive test (0.9375), likelihood ratio of a positive test (15.5435) and odds ratio (75.0) for serological diagnosis of NPC. Forty-five NPC patients showed positivity to EBNA1-IgA and EA-IgG concurrently. A positive EA-IgG reaction was demonstrated in 4 out of 5 NPC patients with negative EBNA1-IgA result and a positive EBNA1-IgA reaction in 6 out of 7 NPC patients with negative EA-IgG result as well. Conclusion: Though high sensitivity and specificity could be obtained by EBNA1-IgA and EA-IgG test, respectively, the combined use of these 2 tests is able to enhancing the reliability of serological diagnosis of NPC. The majority of NPC patients showed positivity to ENBA1-IgA and EA-IgG concurrently. There is a complementary effect through using EBNA1-IgA and EA-IgG for serological diagnosis of NPC.
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Foundation item: This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 39730200-II), the National “Ten-five” Key Project of China (No. 2001BA703B07) and the Department of Public Health, Guangdong Province (No. 1998218).
Biography: ZHANG Chang-qing (1946–), female, associate professor, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Sun Yat-san University, majors in tumor immunology.
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Zhang, Cq., Zong, Ys., Sun, Y. et al. Evaluation of combined EBNA1-IgA and EA-IgG assays in serological diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Chin. J. Cancer Res. 15, 1–4 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11670-003-0001-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11670-003-0001-7