Murray A, Willsher P, Price M R, Dixon A R, Robertson J F
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, UK.
Anticancer Res. 1997 May-Jun;17(3C):1945-9.
This study was designed to evaluate the performance of a new automated assay system, the IMMULITE Automated Immunoassay Analyzer in comparison with more commonly used IRMA assays for measuring circulating tumour marker levels in breast cancer patients. The assays investigated measure the MUC1 mucin (CA15-3 antigen) or CEA. Serum samples from breast cancer patients with various stages of disease and from a group of normal individuals were analysed. Significant correlations were found between tumour marker levels measured using the IMMULITE BR-MA and the CA15-3 assays and between levels measured using the two CEA assay formats. Levels of IMMULITE BR-MA and CEA correlated with stage of disease suggesting that both are markers of tumour burden Levels in Stage III breast cancer patients were found to be significantly higher than those of normals using the IMMULITE system but not the IRMA assays. This would suggest a role for the automated system in the monitoring of breast cancer at an earlier stage than that at which tumour markers are routinely used. Elevated marker levels did not correspond to any particular site of metastasis however, a greater proportion of patients with multiple sites of metastasis had elevated levels compared with those with secondary disease at a single site. We conclude that the IMMULITE Automated Immunoassay Analyzer is of value in the routine surveillance of tumour marker levels.
本研究旨在评估一种新型自动化检测系统——免疫发光自动免疫分析分析仪的性能，并将其与更常用的免疫放射分析（IRMA）法进行比较，以测量乳腺癌患者循环肿瘤标志物水平。所研究的检测方法用于测定MUC1粘蛋白（CA15-3抗原）或癌胚抗原（CEA）。对处于疾病不同阶段的乳腺癌患者和一组正常个体的血清样本进行了分析。使用免疫发光乳腺癌（BR-MA）检测法和CA15-3检测法测得的肿瘤标志物水平之间，以及使用两种CEA检测形式测得的水平之间，均发现存在显著相关性。免疫发光BR-MA和CEA的水平与疾病阶段相关，这表明两者都是肿瘤负荷的标志物。使用免疫发光系统检测发现，III期乳腺癌患者的水平显著高于正常个体，但使用IRMA检测法则未发现此差异。这表明该自动化系统在乳腺癌监测中可发挥作用，其监测阶段比常规使用肿瘤标志物的阶段更早。然而，标志物水平升高并不对应于任何特定的转移部位，不过，与单一部位发生继发性疾病的患者相比，有多个转移部位的患者中，标志物水平升高的比例更高。我们得出结论，免疫发光自动免疫分析分析仪在肿瘤标志物水平的常规监测中具有价值。
