title: An NMR blood test for uveal melanoma?
abstract: In a recent article a simple nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) blood test was suggested for the detection of the presence of cancer. The test's sensitivity to uveal melanoma of both pre- and posttreatment status has been investigated. Cases in this study were 95 patients with uveal melanoma, and controls were 70 participants in an ongoing case control study of retinal eye disease being conducted at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Proton NMR evaluations at 4.7 T (200 MHz) were performed on plasma obtained from EDTA and citrated blood samples. The average line-width values were calculated from each spectrum. Statistical analysis revealed that mean proton NMR line widths were essentially equal for patients with treated (18.7 Hz) and untreated tumors (18.4 Hz) and for controls (18.5 Hz). Results based on this data set suggest that proton NMR spectroscopy has little predictive power in the detection of uveal melanoma or in the monitoring of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston 02114.
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: N H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Kolodny
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Gragoudas
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Seddon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014604:Uveal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy