title: Role of β-isomerized C-terminal telopeptides (β-CTx) and total procollagen type 1 amino-terminal propeptide (tP1NP) as osteosarcoma biomarkers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few serum markers are valid and useful for the diagnosis or therapeutic effect monitoring of osteosarcoma. This study aimed to investigate the role of β-isomerized C-terminal telopeptides (β-CTx) and total procollagen type 1 amino-terminal propeptide (tP1NP) as serological biomarkers for osteosarcoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 48 patients with osteosarcoma and 55 healthy volunteers were investigated. Serum β-CTx and tP1NP levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Data were analyzed by t test with Walth's correction and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The baseline levels of β-CTx and tP1NP were found to be significantly higher in patients with osteosarcoma than the healthy volunteers. The mean areas under the ROC curves were 0.919 (range, 0.864-0.973) for β-CTx and 0.866 (range, 0.792-0.939) for tP1NP. The levels of β-CTx and tP1NP were lower in patients with stable disease after operation than those before operation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings support our hypothesis that β-CTx and tP1NP are promising serum biomarkers for diagnosing or monitoring osteosarcoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Tu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qingcheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zhichang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Nengbin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
keywords: Osteosarcoma; bone marker; diagnosis; monitoring; serum