Ciphergen Biosystems published data validating the use of its protein biomarkers to discriminate between women with ovarian cancer and women with benign ovarian tumors and other nongynecologic diseases. The data appears in the current issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention.
Using proteomic profiling, based on SELDI technology, this study successfully reproduced findings from an earlier study in an independent study population. Unlike the earlier study that compared women with ovarian cancer and healthy controls, this study evaluated the power of the markers to discriminate 42 women with ovarian cancer from 65 women with benign ovarian tumors and 76 women with gastrointestinal disorders. A class prediction algorithm using the markers in combination with age had specificity of 94.3% and sensitivity of 78.6%.
As in the previous study, this study demonstrated that these markers improved specificity in distinguishing ovarian cancer from other diseases, including benign ovarian disease.
