A new assay to screen for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma using the tumor marker metallopanstimulin.
OBJECTIVE
To date, no serologic marker has proven effective as a diagnostic test for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Levels of metallopanstimulin (MPS), as measured by a difficult to reproduce radioimmunoassay, are significantly elevated in untreated HNSCC patients. Our objective was to develop a simpler MPS assay.


METHODS
Serum was obtained from HNSCC patients through Institutional Review Board approved protocols at the Penn State University College of Medicine and healthy volunteers donating blood at the hospital blood bank from 2000 to present. Serum MPS was immunoprecipitated, slot blotted, and Western blotted. MPS levels were quantified by densitometry.


RESULTS
Forty-eight blood donors and 45 known HNSCC patients were studied. The MPS level was 14 ng/mL +/- 1 (SEM) for blood donors and 36 ng/mL +/- 3 (SEM) for known HNSCC patients. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Slot blot analysis of MPS is a safe, effective, and reproducible assay that may be used to screen for HNSCC in high-risk populations.
Division of Otolaryngology, The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033-0850, USA.
Wha-Joon
WJ
Lee
K
K
Keefer
C S
CS
Hollenbeak
B C
BC
Stack
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood*; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008667:Metalloproteins / Q000097:blood*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D008667:Metalloproteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C083686:RPS27 protein, human; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins