ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) IgA serology for viral capsid antigen (VCA) and early antigen (EA) aids early detection of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), resulting in improved survival. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of a prefabricated immunofluorescent assay (IFA) for NPC screening in high-risk individuals. METHODS: Sera from 96 biopsy-proven patients with NPC diagnosed at the outpatient clinic and 96 healthy family members were tested for EBV-VCA IgA and EBV-EA IgA using the prefabricated IFA from EUROIMMUN (EI) and the traditional immunofluorescence method. RESULTS: The AUC of EI EBV-VCA IgA and EBV-EA IgA was 0.907 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.894-0.965) and 0.898 (95% CI: 0.848-0.947), respectively. Combined testing with the prefabricated assay at a threshold of VCA ≥1:320 or EA ≥1:10 showed 92.7% sensitivity and 81.2% specificity. Overall, the traditional EBV-EA IgA assay demonstrated the best accuracy (sensitivity 91.7% and specificity 96.9%) at a threshold of ≥1:5. CONCLUSION: While the traditional IFA method was more accurate, the prefabricated IFA test kit can be a useful tool for NPC screening in high-risk populations.
ABSTRACT
The ubiquitin-like modifier (UBL) family has recently generated much interest in the scientific community, as it is implicated to play important regulatory roles via novel protein-protein modification. FAT10 (diubiquitin) belongs to this family of proteins, comprising two ubiquitin-like moieties fused in tandem, and has been implicated to be involved in the maintenance of spindle integrity during mitosis. As FAT10 may play a role in the regulation of genomic stability, we examined if there is an association between FAT10 expression and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or other cancers. Northern blot analyses revealed upregulation of FAT10 expression in the tumors of 90% of HCC patients. In situ hybridization as well as immunohistochemistry utilizing anti-FAT10 antibodies localized highest FAT10 expression in the nucleus of HCC hepatocytes rather than the surrounding immune and non-HCC cells. FAT10 expression was also found to be highly upregulated in other cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and female reproductive system. In conclusion, we demonstrated upregulation of FAT10 expression in various gastrointestinal and gynecological cancers. Its overexpression is unrelated to the general increase in protein synthesis or a general immune/inflammatory response to cancer. Rather, FAT10 may modulate tumorigenesis through its reported interaction with the MAD2 spindle-assembly checkpoint protein.
