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Published on: April 5, 2018
[Clinical significance of CEA mRNA detection in pleural and peritoneal effusions by real-time fluorescent
Xing Zhang1, Jiang Cao, Shu Zheng
1Cancer Institute, Second Affiliated Hospital, Medical School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China.
Objectives:
To detect CEA mRNA levels in benign and malignant pleural and peritoneal effusions and evaluate their clinical significance.
Methods:
Samples of pleural and peritoneal effusions from 58 patients with malignant diseases and 76 patients with benign diseases were collected and total RNAs were prepared and subjected to real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR to determine the CEA mRNA levels in these samples. The positive rate of this examination was compared with that of shed cell pathological examination.
Results:
Nineteen samples (32.8%) of pleural and peritoneal effusions from the 58 patients with malignant diseases showed positive results in shed cell examination, while the number of CEA mRNA >1 CN was 46 (79.3%) (chi(2) = 21.81, P = 0.000). Nineteen samples of pleural and peritoneal effusions from the 76 patients with benign diseases showed CEA mRNA > 1 CN (25.0%), which was significantly different from that of the patients with malignant diseases (chi(2) = 38.85, P = 0.000).
Conclusion:
CEA mRNA levels in pleural and peritoneal effusions can be quantified by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, which is more sensitive than shed cell pathological examination. This technique is helpful in discrimination of benign and malignant pleural and peritoneal effusions.
