Affiliations: [a] CSIRO Preventative Health National Research Flagship, Australia | [b] Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne, Australia | [c] Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia | [d] Cabrini Hospital, Melbourne, Australia | [e] Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia | [f] SA Pathology, Adelaide, Australia
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Kim Fung, CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Sciences, PO Box 10041, Adelaide BC, South Australia, 5000, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 8303 8840; Fax: +61 8 8303 8899; E-mail: kim.fung@csiro.au.
Abstract: Background:Lipocalin 2 has been implicated in colorectal tumorigenesis but its usefulness as a diagnostic marker for the disease has previously never been determined. Methods:We have used ELISA immunoassay to measure the level of serum lipocalin 2 in a cohort consisting of colorectal cancer patients (n=196) and age/gender matched controls (n=99). Results:The median concentration of lipocalin 2 was found to be significantly higher (p< 0.0001) in the patient group (105.9 ng/mL, range 10.8–444.7 ng/mL) when compared to the control subjects (86.4 ng/mL, range 17.1–190.0 ng/mL). Additionally, no significant difference was observed between disease stage (Dukes’ or T stage) in the patient cohort. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine its performance as a diagnostic marker. The area under the curve was found to be 0.641 (95% confidence interval 0.576–0.706). Furthermore, the sensitivity of lipocalin 2 was found to be 24% at 90% specificity. Conclusions:Our study indicates that lipocalin 2 is not a suitable serum biomarker for the diagnosis of CRC.
