Evaluation of Epstein-Barr virus antigen-based immunoassays for serological diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

• Published in: Journal of clinical virology 2007-12, Vol.40 (4), p.284-288
• Main Authors: Tang, Julian W, Rohwäder, Edda, Chu, Ida M.T, Tsang, Raymond K.Y, Steinhagen, Katja, Yeung, Apple C.M, To, K.F, Chan, Paul K.S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Allergy and Immunology; Antibodies, Viral - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Capsid Proteins - immunology; Chinese; Early antigen; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Epstein-Barr virus; Female; Fluorescent Antibody Technique - methods; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Herpesvirus 4, Human - immunology; Herpesvirus 4, Human - isolation & purification; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunoglobulin A - analysis; Infectious Disease; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - blood; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - pathology; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - virology; Neoplasm Staging; Predictive Value of Tests; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tumors; Viral diseases; Virology; Virus capsid antigen
• ISSN: 1386-6532; 1873-5967
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2007.09.006

Abstract Background Immunofluorescence (IF) assays based on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded antigens have traditionally been the preferred approach for serological screening of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Objectives To compare the performance of two new commercial assays (indicated by COMM) using, respectively, the IF and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) formats with an in-house IF assay (IFA). Study design Sera from 163 patients with histologically confirmed NPC, and 98 healthy controls were tested with each of these assays and their results compared. Results The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, respectively, for the COMM VCA IgA ELISA were 92.6%, 94.9%, 96.8%, 88.6%; for the COMM VCA IgA IFA were 96.9%, 41.8%, 73.5%, 89.1%; for the in-house VCA IgA IFA were 98.2%, 72.4%, 85.6%, 95.9%; for the COMM EA IgA ELISA were 46.6%, 100%, 100%, 53.0%; for the COMM EA IgA IFA were 77.3%, 100%, 100%, 72.6%; and for the in-house EA IgA IFA were 77.9%, 99.0%, 99.2%, 72.9%. Conclusions The receiver operating characteristic curves comparison showed a marginal superior accuracy for the COMM VCA IgA ELISA, suggesting this to be used as a high-throughput serological screening assay, with the more specific COMM EA IgA IFA as a follow-up confirmatory assay in this NPC-endemic area.