Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of the combination of
serum DKK1 (Dickkopf-1 )and P53
autoantibodies in
patients with
esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
Methods Serum levels of DKK1 and P53
autoantibodies were measured by
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (
ELISA) for the 1 26
patients with ESCC and 60 normal controls.
Receiver operating characteristics (ROC)was used to calculate the diagnostic
efficiency.Results The
serum levels of DKK1 and P53
autoantibodies were signifi-cantly higher in ESCC than those in normal controls [(673.09 ±343.82)pg/ml vs (362.05 ±1 48.07)pg/ml, Z =6.1 58,P <0.000 1 ;(0.398 ±0.546)vs (0.069 ±0.050),Z =3.832,P <0.000 1 ].
ROC curves showed the optimum diagnostic cutoff for
serum DKK1 was 588.77 pg/ml,with an
area under curve (
AUC)of 0.780 (95%CI0.71 5 ~0.844,61 .9%
sensitivity,95.0%
specificity).Measurement of P53
autoantibodies demonstrated an
AUC of 0.674 (95%CI0.598 ~0.750,45.3%
sensitivity,95.0%
specificity).The com-bination of DKK1 and P53
autoantibodies yielded an
AUC of 0.843 (95%CI0.788 ~0.897,73.8% sensitiv-ity,95.0%
specificity).In early-stage ESCC,combined
detection of DKK1 and P53
autoantibodies improved the diagnostic
power,with an
AUC of 0.903 (95%CI0.845 ~0.961 ,81 .0%
sensitivity,95.0% specifici-ty).Conclusion
Serum DKK1 and P53
autoantibodies can be used as potential diagnostic
biomarkers for the ESCC.Combined
detection of them might
aid the
early diagnosis of ESCC.