Gastric Cancer
Copyright ©2005 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 28, 2005; 11(44): 6905-6909
Published online Nov 28, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i44.6905
Significance of a novel sucrose permeability test using serum in the diagnosis of early gastric cancer
Tadayuki Shishido, Taketo Yamaguchi, Takeo Odaka, Masanori Seimiya, Hiromitsu Saisho, Fumio Nomura
Tadayuki Shishido, Takeo Odaka, Hiromitsu Saisho, Taketo Yam aguchi, Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba-city, Chiba 260-8677, Japan
Masanori Seimiya, Fumio Nomura, Department of Molecular Diagnosis, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba-city, Chiba 260-8677, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Taketo Yamaguchi, Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba-city, Chiba 260-8677, Japan. yamaguch-cib@umin.ac.jp
Telephone: +43-226-2083 Fax: +43-226-2088
Received: April 25, 2005
Revised: May 23, 2005
Accepted: May 24, 2005
Published online: November 28, 2005
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the usefulness of sucrose permeability test using serum in the diagnosis of gastric diseases, with special reference to early gastric cancer (EGC).

METHODS: A total of 63 subjects, including 11 patients with gastric ulcer, 20 patients with gastric cancer (13, early; 7, advanced) and 32 healthy controls, were studied. Blood and urine samples were collected repeatedly for 5 h before and after the sucrose loading. Sucrose levels were measured by a newly developed enzymatic method.

RESULTS: Serum sucrose levels started to increase 15 min after loading, and peaked at 60 min in the gastric disease groups. The levels for gastric ulcer, EGC and advanced gastric cancer (AGC) at 60 min were significantly higher than that in the healthy controls (26.9±2.4, 34.4±5.0, and 71.8±15.6 vs 7.9±0.7 mol/L, respectively, P<0.01). The cut-off level set at 15.4 mol/L (60 min) offered the best distinction between EGC patients and healthy controls; and the sensitivity and specificity were 92.3% and 93.8%, respectively, while those of the urine method were 76.9% and 93.8%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The gastric permeability test using serum is reliable for the detection of EGC, and this test can provide results much earlier than the conventional urine method. This test may offer a useful alternative to more invasive tests for EGC.

Keywords: Sucrose test; Gastric permeability; Early gastric cancer; Advanced gastric cancer; Gastric ulcer