Progress in understanding the use of human chorionic gonadotropin as a tumor marker
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
More robust analytical evidence should support the selection of human chorionic gonadotropin assays for oncology applica...
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Letter in reply to the letter to the editor of Ferraro S and Panteghini M with the title “More robust analytical evidenc...
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Unstimulated high-sensitive thyroglobulin is a powerful prognostic predictor in patients with thyroid cancer
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Background Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) has an excellent prognosis and the role of high-sensitive thyroglobulin measured during levothyroxine (ON-T4 hs-Tg) testing to discriminate patients with structural from not-evidence of disease (SED and NED, respectively) has been investigated. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis eval...
Two-center comparison of 10 fully-automated commercial procalcitonin (PCT) immunoassays
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Background This two-center study was designed to verify comparability of procalcitonin (PCT) values among 10 different commercial immunoassays. Methods A total number of 176 routine lithium-heparin plasma samples were divided in identical aliquots and simultaneously analyzed with 10 different PCT immunoassays, including Kryptor BRAHMS PCT sensitive...
Shortcomings in the evaluation of biomarkers in ovarian cancer: a systematic review
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Background Shortcomings in study design have been hinted at as one of the possible causes of failures in the translation of discovered biomarkers into the care of ovarian cancer patients, but systematic assessments of biomarker studies are scarce. We aimed to document study design features of recently reported evaluations of biomarkers in ovarian c...
Pre-, post- or no acidification of urine samples for calcium analysis: does it matter?
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Background Measuring 24 h-urine calcium concentration is essential to evaluate calcium metabolism and excretion. Manufacturers recommend acidifying the urine before a measurement to ensure calcium solubility, but the literature offers controversial information on this pre-analytical treatment. The objectives of the study were (1) to compare pre-aci...
Simultaneous measurement of 25(OH)-vitamin D and 24,25(OH)2-vitamin D to define cut-offs for CYP24A1 mutation and vitami...
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Background Simultaneous measurement of 25(OH)D and 24,25(OH)2D is a new tool for predicting vitamin D deficiency and allows evaluating CYP24A1 lack of function. Interpretation of 24,25(OH)2D should be performed according to 25(OH)D levels and a ratio, called the vitamin D metabolite ratio (VMR) has been proposed for such a purpose. Unfortunately, t...
Towards a personalized assessment of vitamin D status
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
The use of faecal immunochemical testing in the decision-making process for the endoscopic investigation of iron deficie...
Published in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
Background Blood loss from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the most common cause of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in adult men and postmenopausal women. Gastroduodenal endoscopy (GDE) and colonoscopy are frequently recommended, despite uncertainty regarding the coexistence of lesions in the upper and lower GI tract. The faecal immunochemical tes...
