title: Reliability of mutagen sensitivity assay: an inter-laboratory comparison.
abstract: Mutagen sensitivity is regarded as a genetic susceptibility phenotype for various cancers; it is cytogenetically based and probably involves a number of genes from different DNA repair pathways. This assay has been used in a number of laboratories in the field of epidemiology, where it has been investigated and appears to be a useful susceptibility biomarker for epidemiological studies assessing cancer risks at the population level. One concern about phenotypic assays, such as the mutagen sensitivity assay, has been that there could be wide variation in results depending on the timing of the assay (within individual variation), the individual performing the assay (within observer variation) and the laboratory where the assay has been performed (inter-laboratory variation). We conducted an inter-laboratory comparison study between the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and M. D. Anderson, in which we assessed all these concerns. We did not find any significant variation in any of the assays. The correlation was high for all tests. The good concordance rate between laboratories supports the continued use of the mutagen sensitivity assay by different laboratories, and demonstrates its potential to identify at-risk subgroups among normal individuals and cancer patients alike.
authors.affiliation: University of New Mexico, School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and New Mexico Cancer Research and Treatment Center, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. EErdei@salud.unm.edu
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Erdei
authors.forename: Sang-Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Qingyi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Li-E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yan-S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bovbjerg
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berwick
mesh_terms: D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D008677:Metaphase; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D009153:Mutagens; D015588:Observer Variation; D010641:Phenotype; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens