The Potential of Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Asymptomatic Patients with Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a disease that affects women of reproductive age and has a significantly negative impact on their well-being. The main symptoms are dysmenorrhoea, chronic pelvic pain and infertility. In many patients the diagnostic process is very long and can take up to 8–12 years. Laparoscopy, an invasive method, is still necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Therefore, development of more effective diagnostic markers appears to be of the utmost importance for early diagnosis of endometriosis and provision of appropriate treatment. From a clinical point of view, detection of early-stage endometriosis in asymptomatic patients is an ideal situation since early diagnosis of endometriosis may delay the onset of symptoms as well as prevent progression and complications. In the meantime, Cancer Antigen 125 (CA-125) is still the most frequently studied and used marker. Other glycoproteins, growth factors and immune markers seem to play an important role. However, the search for an ideal endometriosis marker is still underway. Further studies into the pathogenesis of endometriosis will help to identify biomarkers or sets of biomarkers with the potential to improve and speed up the diagnostic process in a non-invasive way.

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Novel Diagnostic Markers for Endometriosis

10.20944/preprints202103.0544.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Żaneta Kimber-Trojnar ◽

Aleksandra Pilszyk ◽

Magdalena Niebrzydowska ◽

Zuzanna Pilszyk ◽

Monika Ruszała ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Well Being ◽

Diagnostic Markers ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Ca 125 ◽

Diagnostic Process ◽

Cancer Antigen 125 ◽

Immune Markers ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Invasive Method ◽

Speed Up

Endometriosis is a disease that affects women of reproductive age and has a significant impact on their well-being. The main symptoms are dysmenorrhea, chronic pelvic pain and infertility. The diagnostic process in many cases is very long and can take up to 8-12 years. Laparoscopy, which is an invasive method, is still necessary to confirm final identification. Therefore, the development of diagnostic markers seems to be crucial for the diagnosis and proper treatment of women affected by endometriosis as soon as possible. Still the most frequently studied and used marker is Cancer Antigen 125 (CA-125). Other glycoproteins, growth factors and immune markers seem to play an important role. However, the search for the ideal endometriosis marker is still ongoing. Developing researches on endometriosis pathogenesis help to identify potential biomarkers or sets of biomarkers in order to improve and speed up the diagnostic process in a non-invasive way.

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Well-Being of Caregivers of Patients with Laryngeal Cancer Treated by Radiotherapy

International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology ◽

10.1055/s-0039-3399542 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (02) ◽

pp. e170-e174

Author(s):

Therese Karlsson ◽

Mia Johansson ◽

Caterina Finizia

Keyword(s):

Laryngeal Cancer ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Early Stage ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Well Being ◽

Hospital Treatment ◽

Curative Intent ◽

Treatment Pathway ◽

Male Caregivers ◽

The Impact

Abstract Introduction Laryngeal cancer is the second most common head and neck cancer, but no study to date reports exclusively on the well-being of the caregivers of patients with laryngeal cancer treated by radiotherapy. Objective The present prospective pilot study aims to describe the impact of the work on the well-being of the caregivers of patients with laryngeal cancer. Methods The caregivers of patients undergoing radiotherapy with curative intent for laryngeal cancer were included in the present study, and they were asked to fill out a specific questionnaire, while the patients filled out the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) following diagnosis but prior to treatment. Results A total of 50 caregivers were included, 20% of which were male, and 80%, female. In total, 62% (n = 31) of the caregivers were spouses, while the remaining were daughters/sons (n = 11; 22%), siblings (n = 6; 12%), or they were classified as “other” (n = 2; 4%). The female caregivers scored lower (worse) on the depression/worry domain, and this was statistically significant (p = 0.047); they also reported a statistically significant higher negative impact on employment (p = 0.011) compared with the male caregivers. In general, the caregivers of patients with late-stage tumors tended to report lower (worse) scores on all domains (except hospital contact) compared with the caregivers of patients with early-stage tumors. No other differences were observed regarding the patients' age, gender, tumor site or their HADS score. Conclusion The diagnosis and treatment of laryngeal cancer impacts the caregiver's psychological well-being, particularly that of female caregivers. This should be taken into consideration when the patients begin the hospital treatment pathway. However, larger studies are needed to target resources more appropriately.

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Relationship between CA-125 Levels and Extrauterine Spread in Endometrial Cancer Endometrioid Type at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya

Indonesian Journal of Cancer ◽

10.33371/ijoc.v15i2.757 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 60

Author(s):

Brahmana Askandar ◽

Andika Adi Saputra

Keyword(s):

Endometrial Cancer ◽

Lymph Node ◽

Lymph Nodes ◽

Significant Relationship ◽

Early Stage ◽

Clinical Stage ◽

Myometrial Invasion ◽

Ca 125 ◽

Cancer Antigen 125 ◽

Cancer Management

Background: Endometrial cancer is the sixth most common malignancy incidence in women worldwide. The surgical staging in endometrial cancer management such as bilateral salpingooophorectomy and lymphadenectomy is not a routine procedure for all endometrial cancer patients. Therefore, a biomarker to estimate the presence of endometrial cancer metastases to adnexa and lymph nodes is needed. This study aims to find out the level of cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) in endometrial cancer endometrioid type and the relationship between the level of CA-125 and the incidence of adnexal metastases, lymph node metastases, clinical stage, and myometrial invasion.Methods: This observational analytic study used a direct observational design. The in-vitro quantitative examination was performed to measure CA-125 levels using CA-125 Advia Centaur CA-125 Kit. Fischer exact test used to analyzed CA-125 levels with the subject characteristics. All the statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v. 21.0.Results: Of the 30 research subjects with the characteristics of the most age groups of 51–60 years (60%), with the most multiparous parity (73.3%), grade III (43.3%), myometrial invasion > 50% by 66.7%, early-stage (63.3%), the incidence of adnexal metastases (30%), and the incidence of lymph node (LN) metastases (10%), a significant relationship between CA-125 levels and lymph node (LN) metastases was found with a p = 0.041 and the phi association of 0.016 and between CA-125 levels and adnexal metastases with a p = 0.035 and the phi association of 0.026. There was also a significant relationship between CA-125 levels and the clinical stage (advanced stage) with p = 0.004 and the phi association of 0.002. There is no significant relationship with a p = 0.702 and a phi association value of -0.098.Conclusions: CA-125 can be used as a tumor marker to predict the presence of extrauterine metastases (adnexa & lymph nodes).

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A Case of Disseminated Peritoneal Tuberculosis Mimicking Metastatic Ovarian Carcinoma

The Journal of South Asian Federation of Menopause Societies ◽

10.5005/jp-journals-10032-1036 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 44-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ishita Mishra ◽

Nimish C Pandya ◽

Nilopher Surti ◽

Babu S Patel

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Ovarian Carcinoma ◽

Exploratory Laparotomy ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Ca 125 ◽

Ovarian Malignancy ◽

Peritoneal Tuberculosis ◽

Cancer Antigen 125 ◽

Diagnostic Modality ◽

Major Health Problem

ABSTRACT Background Mycobacterium tuberculosis affects about 30% of world's population and infection occurs at a rate of one per second. In 2010, tuberculosis accounted for 8.8 million new cases, was responsible for 1.45 million deaths with majority of cases in developing countries. Tuberculosis is the most common cause of mortality in women of reproductive age. Peritoneal tuberculosis accounts for 4% of all extrapulmonary diseases and often mimics ovarian malignancy due to its nonspecific symptoms. Case A 25-year-old woman with ovarian mass and an elevated cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) underwent an exploratory laparotomy to search for ovarian tumor. The final pathological diagnosis was miliary abdominal tuberculosis. Discussion Peritoneal tuberculosis often mimics ovarian malignancy due to its nonspecific symptoms and is a major health problem in developing countries. There is no particular diagnostic test to differentiate this disease from advanced ovarian carcinoma, making it difficult to avoid extensive surgery. Laparoscopy is the diagnostic modality of choice. How to cite this article Surti N, Patel BS, Pandya NC, Mishra I. A Case of Disseminated Peritoneal Tuberculosis Mimicking Metastatic Ovarian Carcinoma. J South Asian Feder Menopause Soc 2014;2(1):44-45.

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A Fuzzy Rule-Based System for Classification of Diabetes

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21238095 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (23) ◽

pp. 8095

Author(s):

Khalid Mahmood Aamir ◽

Laiba Sarfraz ◽

Muhammad Ramzan ◽

Muhammad Bilal ◽

Jana Shafi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuzzy Logic ◽

Early Diagnosis ◽

Early Stage ◽

Fuzzy Rule ◽

Healthcare Sector ◽

Diagnostic Process ◽

Rule Based ◽

Rule Based System ◽

Proposed Model ◽

Early Diagnosis Of Diabetes

Diabetes is a fatal disease that currently has no treatment. However, early diagnosis of diabetes aids patients to start timely treatment and thus reduces or eliminates the risk of severe complications. The prevalence of diabetes has been rising rapidly worldwide. Several methods have been introduced to diagnose diabetes at an early stage, however, most of these methods lack interpretability, due to which the diagnostic process cannot be explained. In this paper, fuzzy logic has been employed to develop an interpretable model and to perform an early diagnosis of diabetes. Fuzzy logic has been combined with the cosine amplitude method, and two fuzzy classifiers have been constructed. Afterward, fuzzy rules have been designed based on these classifiers. Lastly, a publicly available diabetes dataset has been used to evaluate the performance of the proposed fuzzy rule-based model. The results show that the proposed model outperforms existing techniques by achieving an accuracy of 96.47%. The proposed model has demonstrated great prediction accuracy, suggesting that it can be utilized in the healthcare sector for the accurate diagnose of diabetes.

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Plasma Exosomal Long Non-Coding RNAs Serve as Biomarkers for Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer

Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1159/000495961 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 51 (6) ◽

pp. 2704-2715 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Dongzhi Hu ◽

Yang Zhan ◽

Kegan Zhu ◽

Ming Bai ◽

Jiayi Han ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Early Diagnosis ◽

Early Stage ◽

Characteristic Curve ◽

Area Under The Curve ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Qrt Pcr ◽

Non Coding Rnas ◽

Polymerase Chain

Background/Aims: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Thus, methods for early diagnosis of CRC are urgently needed. We aimed to identify potential long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in circulatory exosomes that may serve as biomarkers for the detection of early-stage CRC. Methods: Exosomes from the plasma of CRC patients (n = 50) and healthy individuals (n = 50) were isolated by ultracentrifugation, followed by extraction of total exosomal RNAs using TRIzol reagent. Microarray analysis was used for exosomal lncRNA profiling in the two groups, and real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to determine the expression level of lncRNAs in all patients and healthy subjects. Results: The expression of six lncRNAs (LNCV6_116109, LNCV6_98390, LNCV6_38772, LNCV_108266, LNCV6_84003, and LNCV6_98602) was found to be significantly up-regulated in CRC patients compared with that in healthy individuals by qRT-PCR. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to verify their diagnostic accuracy. The values of the area under the curve for these lncRNAs were 0.770 (LNCV6_116109), 0.7500 (LNCV6_98390), 0.6500 (LNCV6_38772), 0.6900 (LNCV_108266), 0.7500 (LNCV6_84003), and 0.7200 (LNCV6_98602). Conclusion: Our study suggested that the expression of these six exosomal lncRNAs (LNCV6_116109, LNCV6_98390, LNCV6_38772, LNCV_108266, LNCV6_84003, and LNCV6_98602) was significantly up-regulated in the plasma of CRC patients, and that they may serve as potential non-invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis of CRC.

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Fecal CEA Has an Advantage in the Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer at Early Stage

Cancer Control ◽

10.1177/10732748211048292 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 107327482110482

Author(s):

Linfang Li ◽

Shan Xing ◽

Miantao Wu ◽

Yufeng Ao ◽

Xin Zheng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Early Diagnosis ◽

Diagnostic Accuracy ◽

Early Stage ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Diagnostic Biomarker ◽

Diagnostic Efficacy ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen

Purpose Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (SCEA) level is often measured in patients with CRC but suffers from poor sensitivity and specificity as a diagnostic biomarker. CEA is more abundant in stool than in serum, but it has not been widely studied. This study aimed to elucidate the efficacy of fecal CEA (FCEA) as a potential non-invasive biomarker for early diagnosis of CRC. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed the determination of FCEA and SCEA levels by electrochemiluminescence. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of FCEA and SCEA levels in early-stage CRC patients and healthy controls using ROC curve. Results A total of 298 people were included: 115 patients with CRC, 35 patients with adenomatous polyp (APC), 46 patients with non-gastrointestinal cancer (NGC), and 102 healthy controls (HC). The FCEA concentrations in CRC and APC patients were significantly higher than that of NGC and HC, and this is different from SCEA expression in APC and NGC. As a diagnostic biomarker of CRC, FCEA had significantly larger AUC compared with SCEA (.802 vs .735, P < .001). For identifying early-stage colorectal cancer, FCEA showed better diagnostic efficacy (AUC: .831) than SCEA (AUC: .750), and the combination of the 2 biomarkers was even higher (AUC: .896). The sensitivity of FCEA was higher than that of SCEA (78.7% vs 29.8%). When SCEA was negative, 80.3% of CRC and 54.6% of APC cases could be identified by FCEA. Conclusion Compared with SCEA, FCEA has more advantages in the diagnosis of the early stage of colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyps.

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Surveillance procedures for patients treated for epithelial ovarian cancer: a review of the literature

International Journal of Gynecological Cancer ◽

10.1111/j.1525-1438.2007.00826.x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 21-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 81

Author(s):

A. Gadducci ◽

S. Cosio ◽

P. Zola ◽

F. Landoni ◽

T. Maggino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer ◽

Fdg Pet ◽

Recurrent Disease ◽

Early Stage ◽

Gynecological Cancer ◽

Ca 125 ◽

Early Stage Disease ◽

Asymptomatic Patients

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecological cancer in the Western countries. Approximately 20%–30% of patients with early-stage disease and 50%–75% of those with advanced disease who obtain a complete response following first-line chemotherapy will ultimately develop recurrent disease, which more frequently involves the pelvis and abdomen. Few formal guidelines exist regarding the surveillance of these patients, and there is no agreement in the literature about the type and timing of examinations to perform. Moreover, the objective of follow-up is unclear as recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer continues to be a therapeutic dilemma and quite all the relapsed patients will eventually die of their disease. The follow-up of asymptomatic patients generally include complete clinical history, serum cancer antigen (CA)125 assay, physical examination, and often ultrasound examination, whereas additional radiologic imaging techniques are usually performed when symptoms or signs appear.18Fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose (18FDG)–positron emission tomography (PET) has a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 85% approximately for the detection of recurrent disease, and this examination appears to be particularly useful for the diagnosis of recurrence when CA125 levels are rising and conventional imaging is inconclusive or negative. Recently, technologic advances have led to novel combined18FDG-PET/computed tomography (CT) devices, which perform contemporaneous acquisition of both18FDG-PET and CT images. The role of18FDG-PET/CT for the detection of recurrent ovarian cancer is very promising, and this technique may be especially useful for the selection of patients with late recurrent disease who may benefit from secondary cytoreductive surgery.

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Ascites and Encapsulating Peritonitis in Endometriosis: a Systematic Review with a Case Report

Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia / RBGO Gynecology and Obstetrics ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1626700 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (03) ◽

pp. 147-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Thais Magalhães ◽

Kathiane Augusto ◽

Livia Mota ◽

Arthur Costa ◽

Rainardo Puster ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Patient Outcomes ◽

Clinical Presentation ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Ca 125 ◽

Cancer Antigen 125 ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Cancer Antigen ◽

Clinically Significant ◽

Encapsulating Peritonitis

AbstractEndometriosis can have several different presentations, including overt ascites and peritonitis; increased awareness can improve diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes. We aim to provide a systematic review and report a case of endometriosis with this unusual clinical presentation. The PubMed/MEDLINE database was systematically reviewed until October 2016. Women with histologically-proven endometriosis presenting with clinically significant ascites and/or frozen abdomen and/or encapsulating peritonitis were included; those with potentially confounding conditions were excluded. Our search yielded 37 articles describing 42 women, all of reproductive age. Ascites was mostly hemorrhagic, recurrent and not predicted by cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) levels. In turn, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia and infertility were not consistently reported. The treatment choices and outcomes were different across the studies, and are described in detail. Endometriosis should be a differential diagnosis of massive hemorrhagic ascites in women of reproductive age.

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New Online Resource on the 3Rs Principles of Animal Research for Wildlife Biologists, Ecologists, and Conservation Managers

Conservation ◽

10.3390/conservation1020009 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 106-112

Author(s):

Miriam A. Zemanova

Keyword(s):

Research Methods ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Well Being ◽

Biodiversity Monitoring ◽

Future Studies ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Online Resource ◽

Animal Use ◽

The Individual

The Earth’s biodiversity is in crisis. Without radical action to conserve habitats, the current rate of species extinction is predicted to accelerate even further. Efficient species conservation requires planning, management, and continuous biodiversity monitoring through wildlife research. Conservation biology was built on the utilitarian principle, where the well-being of species, populations, and ecosystems is given priority over the well-being of individual animals. However, this tenet has been increasingly under discussion and it has been argued that wildlife researchers need to safeguard the welfare of the individual animals traditionally subjected to invasive or lethal research procedures. The 3Rs principles of animal use (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) have become the cornerstone of ethical scientific conduct that could minimize the potential negative impact of research practices. One of the obvious strategies to implement the 3Rs in wildlife studies is to use non-invasive or non-lethal research methods. However, in contrast to toxicological or pharmacological research on laboratory animal models, up to now no 3Rs databases or online resources designed specifically for wildlife biologists, ecologists, and conservation managers have been available. To aid the implementation of the 3Rs principles into research on wildlife, I developed an online resource whose structure is outlined in this paper. The website contains a curated database of peer-reviewed articles that have implemented non-invasive or non-lethal research methods that could be used as a guideline for future studies.

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