differential diagnosis mesothelioma
The diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is often too late successfully remove the cancer or halt its progression. Consequently, researchers have been searching for a biomarker that would be definitive in the diagnosis of mesothelioma metastatic, but until now, have not been entirely successful. Serum Osteopontin is a molecule whose presence is associated with metastatic mesothelioma. It is one of the three biomarkers which attracted considerable interest and has generated numerous research studies worldwide.
A study published in 2007 by the lung and the Department Thoracic Oncology, Hospital Calmette (this is not a misspelling,) Lille, France concludes that osteopontin is not specific enough to diagnose mesothelioma. It concluded, however, that could be useful in controlling the disease. The document states that remains cytohistology far more accurate diagnosis for mesothelioma.
A study published by the Department of Surgery, Wayne State University, Karmanos Cancer Institute, John A. Dingell Veterans Hospital, Detroit, MI noted that serum osteopontin as significantly higher in patients with pleural mesothelioma, compared with a group whose participants had been exposed to asbestos and asbestos were several related diseases (plaques, fibrosis or both, but not mesothelioma.) They concluded that serum osteopontin levels are useful in distinguishing between patients with pleural mesothelioma and those with other diseases related to the asbestos that are not cancerous.
A study by doctors at the National Institute de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U774, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France, she studied both diagnostic and prognostic value of osteopontin with slightly different results than other studies showed. They reached the conclude that osteopontin is less precise, as a diagnostic measure, but may have potential as a prognostic marker.
Fourth study by doctors at the National Research Center for Asbestos Related Diseases, Western Australian Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, Australia Results show that it is similar osteopontin marker scientists hope to find. The report adds that osteopontin levels did not differentiate between mesothelioma and other diseases malignant.
Most other studies seem to confirm these results, and each points to two other biomarkers as having the potential to provide reliable differential diagnosis. Of the three, soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) shows the most promise for both early detection of mesothelioma differentiation between malignant and benign and metastatic carcinomas.
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Treatment for mesothelioma can be expensive, and impose great demands on you and your family. If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you may be entitled to a settlement to pay these expenses. Please contact the lawyers experienced in mesothelioma claims in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Screening for Mesothelioma and Serum Osteopontin Level Testing 

