Creative Biolabs is a professional provider in the antibody market worldwide. Especially, our team is dedicated to developing antibodies against different markers to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of cancers. Carbohydrate antigen 242 (CA242) is a potential specific marker for pancreatic cancers. Here, we present our in vitro diagnostic (IVD) antibody development services targeting CA242 marker.
CA242 is a novel sialylated carbohydrate antigen, defined by the monoclonal antibody C242. This antigen was obtained after immunization of mice with a class of human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (COLO 205 cell lines). The chemical structure of CA242 antigenic determinant is not exactly known but it seems to be a sialylated carbohydrate structure associated with type I chain. In serum, CA242 (normal values ≤ 20.0 U mL-1) is present on the same mucin-complex as carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) and CA19-9 (sialylated Lewisa). Thus, it is related but not identical to the epitope of CA19-9. In the normal controls and subjects with benign diseases, the CA242 levels are low, while increased levels are frequently found in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. As such, it has been used as a new tumor marker for detection of gastric cancers.
Fig.1 Targeting intracellular tumor antigens with antibody therapy.1
Pancreatic cancer is a lethal malignancy that has been reported as the fourth or fifth commonest cause for cancer mortality. The high risk and death of this disease are due to the fact of a very poor prognosis. With no early identification, most patients are definitely diagnosed until an advanced stage. Various tumor markers have been tested in connection with pancreatic cancer, including CA242, CA19-9, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). CA242 is an important serum tumor marker for sialylated Lewis carbohydrates related to adenocarcinomas and E-selectin mediated metastasis.
Recent studies investigated the systematic evaluation of diagnostic potency of three makers individually or in combination. Accordingly, a meta-analysis was performed to assess and compare the sensitivity and specificity of CA242, CA19-9, and CEA in pancreatic cancer detection. The pooled sensitivities for CA242, CA19-9, and CEA were 67.8 (95% CI: 65.5-70), 75.4 (95% CI: 73.4-77.4), and 39.5 (95% CI: 37.3-41.7), respectively. The pooled specificities of these markers were 83 (95% CI: 81-85), 77.6 (95% CI: 75.4-79.7), and 81.3 (95% CI: 79.3-83.2), respectively. The parallel combination of CA242+CA19-9 has a higher sensitivity (89, 95% CI: 80-95) without reducing the specificity (75, 95% CI: 67-82). In conclusions, CA242 and CA19-9 markers have better performance in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancers than CEA marker. Moreover, the combination test of CA242+CA19-9 may be of great diagnostic value than individual CA242 or CA19-9 test.
Increasing evidence has suggested that the detection of CA242 may be an aid in the diagnosis and management of patients with known or suspected patients with pancreatic cancers. At Creative Biolabs, we can provide IVD antibody development services targeting CA242 antigen to improve patient prognosis. With our versatile IVD platform, Creative Biolabs is proud to develop novel CA242-specific (paired) antibodies from scratch to commercial IVD kit (we can also start with provided antibody candidates).
If you're interested in our services, please contact us for more information or directly send us an inquiry.
Reference
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