Validation of performance of tumor marker based strips against the Immunochemistry analyzer in cancer diagnosis

Abstract

Cancer is a disorder that arises from uncontrollable cell division. Cancer disease stands at over 100,000 people per year of which 90% are estimated to occur in Northern and eastern parts of the country, Uganda and many other countries, mostly low resource areas are affected. In many of these areas, 50–80% of people die at initial stages. This study evaluated the accuracy of tumor marker based strips by determining their sensitivity and specificity. 2ml of whole blood were collected from 75 participants in 5ml red top vacutainer tubes. The blood was placed on a sample rack. The samples were transported on sample racks at room temperature to UCI laboratory, Mulago, Kampala for immunochemistry tests using the COBASE601 and lateral flow chromatography tests using the tumor based strips. Results indicated that tumor based test strips had 96% sensitivity and a 100% specificity in identification of prostate, colon and liver cancer denoted with tumor markers PSA, CEA, and AFP respectively. The high sensitivity and specificity are probably linked to the feasibility of the test and easy operation procedures in line with use of fresh samples immediate from the patients. These results implicate that tumor strips in cancer screening test should be used for early and quick detection of cancer. As a result, rapid diagnostic tests should be used to ease diagnosis and lower prevalence of cancer cases at large. More research should be done to evaluate other forms of tumor marker strips and validate their accuracy in laboratory and bedside setting.