Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Practice Point
  • Published:

The ROC 'n' role of the multiplex assay for early detection of ovarian cancer

Abstract

In order to overcome the significant mortality associated with ovarian cancer, a highly sensitive and specific screening test is urgently needed. CA125 is used to assess response to chemotherapy, detect recurrence, and distinguish malignant from benign disease; however, this marker is elevated in only 50–60% of stage I ovarian cancers, making it inadequate for early detection of malignancy. In this Practice Point, we discuss Visintin et al.'s attempt to validate a novel multiplex assay that uses a panel of six serum biomarkers–leptin, prolactin, osteopontin, insulin-like growth factor II, macrophage inhibitory factor, and CA125. The study included 362 healthy controls and 156 patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer. The final model yielded 95.3% sensitivity, 99.4% specificity, a positive predictive value of 99.3% and a negative predictive value of 99.2%. These results indicate potential utility of this assay for early detection of ovarian cancer, although further validation is needed in a sample set representative of the general population.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Jemal A et al. (2008) Cancer statistics, 2008. CA Cancer J Clin 58: 71–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gagnon A and Ye B (2008) Discovery and application of protein biomarkers for ovarian cancer. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 20: 9–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Høgdall E (2008) Cancer antigen 125 and prognosis. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 20: 4–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bast RC Jr et al. (2005) New tumor markers: CA125 and beyond. Int J Gynecol Cancer 15 (Suppl 3): S274–S281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jacobs I et al. (1988) Multimodal approach to screening for ovarian cancer. Lancet 1: 268–271

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Moore RG et al. (2008) The use of multiple novel tumor biomarkers for the detection of ovarian carcinoma in patients with a pelvic mass. Gynecol Oncol 108: 402–408

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Visintin I et al. (2008) Diagnostic markers for early detection of ovarian cancer. Clin Cancer Res 14: 1065–1072

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Mor G et al. (2005) Serum protein markers for early detection of ovarian cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 7677–7682

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms Diana Urbauer at the Quantitative Sciences Division, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for helpful discussions regarding this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anil K Sood.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nick, A., Sood, A. The ROC 'n' role of the multiplex assay for early detection of ovarian cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 5, 568–569 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc1214

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc1214

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing