Clinical and Experimental medicine, 2017, 01, 403─410, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-016-0426-1

Copmparison of serum trefoil factor 3 with the pepsinogen test for the screening of diffuse-type gastric cancer

Ju Yup Lee, Kyung Sik Park; Hyun-Gyo Lee; Won-Ki Bae k; Kwang Bum Cho; Yoo Jin Lee; Yoon Suk Lee; Seung-Wan Ryu

Abstract

Emerging data show that serum trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) alone and combined with the serum pepsinogen (PG) test can increase the diagnostic yield of gastric cancer. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum TFF3 for the screening of gastric cancer in Korean patients, especially for the screening of the diffuse type of gastric cancer, and compared TFF3 to the serum PG test. We enrolled 25 healthy controls and 79 subjects with gastric cancer who underwent endoscopic resection or surgery from June 2006 to June 2015. Data about age, sex, histological type according to the Lauren classification, stage of gastric cancer, and status of H. pylori were collected. Serum levels of PG I and PG II were measured by the latex-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay, and serum TFF3 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The optimal cutoff value of serum TFF3 was C8.9 ng/mL to diagnose gastric cancer, with 73.4 % sensitivity and 92.0 % specificity, which were higher than those of the serum PG I/II ratio, with 69.6 % sensitivity and 68.0 % specificity. The optimal sensitivity and specificity of serum TFF3 for the diagnosis of diffusetype gastric cancer were 68.0 and 92.0 %, respectively, which were lower than those for the diagnosis of intestinaltype gastric cancer (75.6 and 100 %, respectively). Serum TFF3 is a more stable and useful marker than the serum PG test for the screening of gastric cancer in Korean patients. Serum TFF3 showed good diagnostic power in detecting both intestinal- and diffuse-type gastric cancer although it showed decreased power in diffuse type.

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-016-0426-1
• ISBN or ISSN: 1591-8890

• 본 연구는 질병관리본부 연구개발과제(과제번호 2017-보건의료생물자원종합관리) 연구비를 지원받아 수행되었습니다.
• This research was supported by a fund(code 2017-보건의료생물자원종합관리) by Research of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.