Clinical Value of a Mucin-Like Carcinoma-Associated Antigen (MCA) in Patients with Carcinomas of the Kidney and the Urinary Collecting System

Abstract

A new tumor marker, mucin-like carcinoma-associated antigen (MCA), was evaluated in thirty-four patients with renal cell carcinomas and forty patients with carcinomas of the urinary collecting system. In the first group, specificity was 95%, sensitivity 65%, the predictive value for positive diagnosis was 94%, and for negative diagnosis 72%. In the second group specificity was 83%, sensitivity 71%, predictive value for positive diagnosis was 63%, and for negative diagnosis 88%. Receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that the maximum amount of information was greater in patients of the first group than the second (0.379 vs. 0.332 bits). In the light of these data, the MCA test can be recommended for assessing metastatic spread in patients particularly with renal cell carcinomas.