Tumour Markers in the Differential Diagnosis of Patients With Isolated Involuntary Weight Loss

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Tumour Markers in the Differential Diagnosis of Patients With Isolated Involuntary Weight Loss Via In vivo (Athens, Greece) In Vivo. 2021 Nov-Dec;35(6):3361-3367. doi: 10.21873/invivo.12634. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND/AIM: Paraneoplastic syndrome symptoms include isolated involuntary weight loss (IIWL). The differential diagnosis of cancer from other diseases may require a significant number of tests. Tumour markers (TMs) can be used for the diagnosis and stratification of patients according to cancer risk. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 606 patients (48% females) seen at the rapid diagnostic unit for IIWL. We determined the levels of TMs carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen 19-9, soluble fragments of cytokeratin 19, carbohydrate antigen 15-3, carbohydrate antigen 125, neuron specific enolase, alpha-fetoprotein, prostatic specific antigen using the multiparametric analyser COBAS 601. Two cut-off points were established, the upper reference limit described by the manufacturer and a high cut-off point suggested by Molina et al., to stratif y patients according to cancer risk. RESULTS: Patients were classified according to TM levels as follows: I) all TMs below the upper reference limit; II) highest number of TMs between the two cut-offs; III) at least one TM above the higher cut-off. The odds ratio for malignancy was 4.3 for group II and 248 for group III. These results indicate that when at least one TM is above the higher cut-off, neoplasia is highly probable. CONCLUSION: TM determination allowed to establish cancer risk in patients with IIWL. PMID:34697170 | DOI:10.21873/invivo.12634 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.