ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of hepatitis C virus [HCV] core Ag assay by comparing it with anti-HCV antibodies and PCR-based technology for measuring viral load in diagnosis of HCV. HCV core Ag by ELISA in serum, in the presence or absence of anti-HCV antibodies was compared to HCV- RNA by PCR on total number of 100 subjects, divided into 3 groups; including 80 patients and 20 volunteers. The sensitivity of the test was [72.5%]] and the specificity was [86.6%]. Also positive predictive value of the test was [78.3%] and negative predictive value was [82.5%]. Core antigen detection by ELISA can be used as a reliable test for detection of vireamia in HCV infection
ABSTRACT
Seventy four cases with gastrointestinal tract [GIT] tumours were selected by systematic random sampling from the surgical inpatient clinics of Zagazig University Hospitals and investigated for the tumour markers: alkaline phosphatase [AP], carcinoembryonic antigen [CEA] and alpha-fetoprotein [AFP] before and after intervention by surgery. The same tumour markers were investigated in a crossly matched control group of apparently healthy 20 workers in the same hospitals. The present work aimed to assess the validity of these tumour markers as diagnostic methods for GIT tumours. Tumour marker averages were significantly decreased after surgical treatment except in both AP and CEA in gastric cancer cases. Specificity was highest by CEA [95.0%] followed by AFP [90.0%] then AP [75.0%]. Regarding sensitivity, it was highest [100.0%] by both CEA in cancer colon with hepatic metastasis and AFP in cancer stomach