An evaluation of CA 549, a circulating marker of breast cancer using a procedure for comparison with CA 15.3.

A serum assay of CA 549 (Hybri-BREScan CA 549 degrees, Hybritech), a new tumor marker, was performed in 129 patients with breast cancer and 35 healthy women, in parallel with CA 15.3 (ELSA-CA 15.3 degrees, CIS Biointernational). Comparing 95 women with primary breast carcinoma and 35 controls, Relative (or Receiver) Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that the Area Under ROC Curve (AUC) of CA 15.3 was significantly higher than that of CA 549, indicating that, for our population, the first marker was more effective. Parallel and series analyses were also performed using ROC AUC and revealed that the combination of these two tests did not give more information than the CA 15.3 test alone; however, they did not in any way constitute diagnostic tools. In our experience, the best field of application for CA 549 seems to be the therapeutic monitoring and early detection of breast cancer recurrences. However, further investigations on a larger scale are necessary to assess more precisely the place of CA 549 in following the clinical course of breast cancer patients.     

The HemoCue®, a point of care B-hemoglobin photometer, measures hemoglobin concentrations accurately when mixedin vitro with canine plasma and three hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOC)

PURPOSE: Accuracy of measurement of low hemoglobin concentrations using the HemoCue, a B-hemoglobin photometer (HemoCue AB, Angelholm, Sweden) may exhibit significant variability. Infusion of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOC) results in low concentrations of plasma hemoglobin. Our study assessed B-hemoglobin photometer measurement accuracy of three HBOC: (hemoglobin glutamer-200 (bovine; Oxyglobin, Biopure Corp., Cambridge, MA, USA); hemoglobin glutamer-250 (bovine; Hemopure, Biopure Corp, Cambridge, MA, USA), and hemoglobin-raffimer, (human; Hemolink, Hemosol, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada). METHODS: In the laboratory, 45 split canine plasma samples were mixed with hemoglobin glutamer-200 (8.13, 16.25, 32.5 g x L(-1) concentrations), 45 samples were mixed with hemoglobin glutamer-250 (8.13, 16.25, 32.5 g x L(-1) concentrations), 45 with hemoglobin-raffimer (12.5, 25.0, 50.0 g x L(-1) concentrations), and measured. Plasma samples without HBOC served as control. Hemoglobin concentration was determined by a laboratory analyzer (Coulter Corporation, Hiafeah, FL, USA) and B-hemoglobin photometer (HemoCue, Angelholm, Sweden). Two independent technicians performed blinded sample measurements and randomly tested each sample five times. Results were analyzed according to Bland and Altman analysis. RESULTS: B-hemoglobin photometer demonstrated high repeatability for all three HBOCs. Repeatability coefficients were 0.37 g x L(-1) and 0.48 g x L(-1) for hemoglobin glutamer-200, 0.39 g x L(-1) and 0.4 g x L(-1) for hemoglobin glutamer-250 and 1.07 g x L(-1) and 0.85 g x L(-1) for hemoglobin-raffimer. An acceptable agreement was found between the B-hemoglobin photometer and the laboratory analyzer for all three HBOCs tested. CONCLUSION: The B-hemoglobin photometer accurately determined the concentration of three HBOC solutions dissolved in canine plasma.