Diagnosis of oesophageal cancer by detection of minichromosome maintenance 5 protein in gastric aspirates

• Published in: British journal of cancer 2004-08, Vol.91 (4), p.714-719
• Main Authors: Williams, G H, Swinn, R, Prevost, A T, de Clive-Lowe, P, Halsall, I, Going, J J, Hales, C N, Stoeber, K, Middleton, S J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Automation; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Biopsy, Needle; Cancer Research; Carcinoma - diagnosis; Carcinoma - genetics; Cell Cycle Proteins - analysis; Cell Cycle Proteins - biosynthesis; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Diagnosis, Differential; DNA Replication; DNA, Neoplasm - analysis; DNA-Binding Proteins; Drug Resistance; Epidemiology; Esophageal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Esophageal Neoplasms - genetics; Female; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Gastroscopy; Genetic Markers; Humans; Male; Mass Screening; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Molecular and Cellular Pathology; Molecular Medicine; Observer Variation; Oncology; Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; Sensitivity and Specificity; Stomach; Tumors
• ISSN: 0007-0920; 1532-1827
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6602028

Symptomatic oesophageal cancer is usually advanced and the prognosis poor. Lethality of symptomatic oesophageal cancer has motivated screening for these diseases earlier in their evolution, but reliable methods for early diagnosis remain elusive. We have demonstrated that dysregulated expression of minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins 2–7 is characteristic of early epithelial carcinogenesis, and that these key DNA replication initiation factors can be used as diagnostic markers for cervical and genito-urinary tract cancer. In this study, we investigated whether minichromosome maintenance protein 5 (Mcm5) can be used to detect oesophageal cancer cells in gastric aspirates. Two monoclonal antibodies raised against His-tagged human Mcm5 were used in a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay to measure Mcm5 levels in cells isolated from gastric aspirates of 40 patients undergoing gastroscopy for suspected or known oesophageal carcinoma or symptoms of dyspepsia. The test discriminated with high specificity and sensitivity between patients with and without oesophageal cancer (85% sensitivity (95% confidence interval (CI)=62–97%), 85% specificity (CI=66–96%)), as demonstrated by the large area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (0.93 (95% CI=0.85–0.99)). Elevated levels of Mcm5 in gastric aspirates are highly predictive of oesophageal cancer. This simple test for oesophageal cancer is readily automated with potential applications in primary diagnosis, surveillance and screening.