Appendicitis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is extremely rare and its presentation is atypical [1]. We describe a patient with peritoneal tuberculosis (TB) and perforated tuberculous appendicitis, who was investigated for vague abdominal distention and weight loss. The presentation of types of TB of the appendix and the role of cancer antigen-125 (CA-125) in the diagnosis and follow up of...

The use of tumour associated antigens in the diagnosis of serous effusions was studied in 76 patients with benign and 200 patients with malignant disease. Tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA), alpha fetoprotein, and CA 125 were found to be of little value. At cut off points of 3 ng/ml, 10 U/ml, and 30 U/ml, respectively, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), biliary glycoprotein I (BGP I), and CA 19-9 di...

We measured tumor-associated proteins (TAPs) and pollutants in blood, serum, and urine of 200 nonsmoking women 50-65 years of age, residing in the rural municipality of Peer or in Hoboken or Wilrijk, industrial suburbs of Antwerp, Belgium. Persons with occupational exposures or commuting to other towns were excluded. Residents from Hoboken had significantly higher levels of blood lead and serum...

A 14 year old female complained of abdominal pain and distention with vomiting. The physical exam showed thyroid enlargement and ascites. The imaging evaluation demonstrated a large ovarian cyst. Laboratory tests depicted hypothyroidism and marked elevation of Carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125) levels. As the bone age was 10 years, more retarded than the chronological age, Van Wyk and Grumbach s...

INTRODUCTION Obesity increases production of adipose tissue-derived proteins, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Also there are elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6, CD8, and CD4, indicating chronic subclinical inflammation. Since obesity represents a serious risk factor in several metabolic diseases, identifying the status of carbohydrate antigen-...

Early detection of ovarian cancer might improve clinical outcome. Some studies have shown the role of cytokines as a new group of tumor markers for ovarian cancer. We hypothesized that a panel comprised of multiple cytokines, which individually may not show strong correlation with the disease, might provide higher diagnostic power. To evaluate the diagnostic utility of cytokine panel, we used a...

BACKGROUND An increased focus on the biological behaviour of serum biomarkers for ovarian cancer, i.e., carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125) and human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), has been advocated to improve their clinical use. Due to the paucity and poor design of available studies evaluating biological variation (BV) of CA-125 and the lack of BV data for HE4, in this study we evaluated BV of bo...

HYPOTHESIS Accurate differentiation between inflammatory and neoplastic tumors of the pancreas remains a diagnostic dilemma for surgeons. The aim of the study was to assess the utility of 2 neoplastic markers, cancer antigen (CA) 19-9 and CA 125, in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic tumors. DESIGN The patients were assigned to a malignant or benign group based on cytological and histol...

The measurement of multiple antigens in a single sample poses clinical and methodological challenges. Here we describe the validation of a multiplexed sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) array (microELISA) of nine antigens. The antigens tested simultaneously were: alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), prostate specific antigen (PSA), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 125 (CA 125)...

BACKGROUND Peritoneal recovery after uncomplicated serum manipulation usually lasts 7 days and high values of serical CA 125 are measured following abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to assess a possible correlation between peritoneal manipulation and serical CA 125 levels following abdominal surgery for benign diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty-eight patients with abdominal beni...