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BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of recurrent breast carcinoma is crucial for patient treatment. The present study aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) as a sero-marker among recurrent breast carcinoma patients. METHODS: This prospective observational study evaluated the serum CA 15-3 among women (age ≥18 years) with recurrent breast carcinoma. The CA 15-3 was measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and concentrations were stratified using a cut-off value of 30 U/mL. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve observed that the sensitivity and specificity of the CA 15-3 cut-off value and the area under the AUROC curve demonstrate the goodness-of-fit of the prediction model. RESULTS: A total of 50 patients were recruited, with a mean age of 48.4 ±9.7years. The majority (n=28, 56.0%) of patients were 41 to 50 years old. Further, a total of 42 (84%) patients had high serum levels of CA 15-3, with a mean value of 72.7±9.5 U/mL. At the cut-off level of 30 U/mL, the ROC curve demonstrated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 95.7%, 69.4%, 84.1%, and 72.8%, respectively, to diagnose recurrent breast carcinoma. Nonetheless, the area under the ROC (AUROC) curve was 0.712, indicating a satisfactory fit for the prediction model. CONCLUSION: We found that CA 15-3 level ≥30 U/mL is highly sensitive and specific as a seromarker for detecting recurrent breast cancer among the Bangladeshi population. We recommend routinely monitoring breast cancer survivors using CA 15-3 biomarkers.
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OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to determine the seroprevalence, the fraction of asymptomatic infections, and risk factors of SARS-CoV-2 infections among the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs). DESIGN: It was a population-based two-stage cross-sectional study at the level of households. SETTING: The study was conducted in December 2020 among household members of the FDMN population living in the 34 camps of Ukhia and Teknaf Upazila of Cox's Bazar district in Bangladesh. PARTICIPANTS: Among 860 697 FDMNs residing in 187 517 households, 3446 were recruited for the study. One individual aged 1 year or older was randomly selected from each targeted household. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Blood samples from respondents were tested for total antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 using Wantai ELISA kits, and later positive samples were validated by Kantaro kits. RESULTS: More than half (55.3%) of the respondents were females, aged 23 median (IQR 14-35) years and more than half (58.4%) had no formal education. Overall, 2090 of 3446 study participants tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibody. The weighted and test adjusted seroprevalence (95% CI) was 48.3% (45.3% to 51.4%), which did not differ by the sexes. Children (aged 1-17 years) had a significantly lower seroprevalence 38.6% (95% CI 33.8% to 43.4%) compared with adults (58.1%, 95% CI 55.2% to 61.1%). Almost half (45.7%, 95% CI 41.9% to 49.5%) of seropositive individuals reported no relevant symptoms since March 2020. Antibody seroprevalence was higher in those with any comorbidity (57.8%, 95% CI 50.4% to 64.5%) than those without (47.2%, 95% CI 43.9% to 50.4%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of all subjects identified increasing age and education as risk factors for seropositivity. In children (≤17 years), only age was significantly associated with the infection. CONCLUSIONS: In December 2020, about half of the FDMNs had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, including those who reported no history of symptoms. Periodic serosurveys are necessary to recommend appropriate public health measures to limit transmission.