Urinary gonadotropin fragment, a new tumor marker. I. Assay development and cancer specificity.
Urinary gonadotropin fragment (synonyms: UGF and human chorionic gonadotropin beta-subunit core fragment) is a small peptide which is present in the urines of pregnant women, of those with trophoblast disease and of those with certain nontrophoblastic malignancies. We developed a new UGF assay with improved specificity and then investigated levels in urines of 493 women: 155 healthy and postmenopause, 79 healthy and premenopause, 89 with benign gynecologic disease, and 170 with active gynecological cancer. A UGF cutoff level of greater than 3 fmole/ml was chosen to monitor the progress of patients during and after cancer therapy. Using this cutoff value, UGF specificity and sensitivity for active cancer were 90 and 66%, respectively. Levels exceeded this cutoff in 74% of women with recurrent disease. For screening purposes and for differentiating benign and malignant disease a cut-off of 8 fmol/ml, was indicated. At this higher cutoff specificity and sensitivity for active cancer were 99 and 46%, respectively.
Nam
J H
JH
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
Cole
L A
LA
Chambers
J T
JT
Schwartz
P E
PE
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000652:urine*; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000652:urine*; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000652:urine*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C063554:urinary gonadotropin fragment