title: Evaluation of tumor markers for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ascites.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The diagnosis of malignant ascites is a challenging problem in clinical practice, non-invasive techniques should be developed to improve diagnostic accuracy. The diagnostic performances of tumor markers in malignant ascites remained unsettled. Our aim was to evaluate diagnostic performance of tumor markers in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ascites.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 437 patients were enrolled, and the relevant parameters of the patients were analyzed for the differentiation of benign ascites from malignant ascites.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the predetermined cutoff values of tumor makers, tumor markers in ascitic fluid showed better diagnostic performance than those in serum. Combined use of tumor markers and the cytology increased the diagnostic yield of the latter by 37%. In cytologically negative malignant ascites, tumor markers provided assistance in differentiating malignant ascites from benign ascites, and the combination of ascitic tumor markers yielded 86% sensitivity, 97% specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of a panel of tumor markers exhibited excellent diagnostic performance in diagnosing malignant ascites, which indicated the detection of tumor markers may represent a beneficial adjunct to cytology, thus guiding the selection of patients who might benefit from further invasive procedures.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xinjuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, Qingdao, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Keshu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022 P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuhu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D001201:Ascites / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D018396:Mucin-1; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen