Migration Inhibitory Factor Test Detects Cancer

A new assay has been developed that measures the level of migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in blood. The MIF assay may be used alone or in combination with other diagnostic tests to provide greater certainty in the diagnosis of cancer and may help physicians to monitor the treatment of patients.

Studies have shown that MIF is a positive marker for several cancers including prostate, bladder, breast, and ovarian cancers. The MIF assay kit, developed by Onco Detectors International (ODI, Bethesda, MD, USA), can be used by laboratories for measuring MIF levels in serum. The test is currently registered for research by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The MIF assay has been evaluated by the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs (Bay Pines, FL, USA) for prostate and bladder cancer, by the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) for prostate cancer, and by Yale University (New Haven, CT, USA) for ovarian cancer. In all these studies, the levels of MIF were significantly higher in patients with cancer. In addition to cancer, MIF appears to be over-expressed for several other medical conditions in which inflammation is a component, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, endometriosis and type 1 diabetes.

"MIF has been shown to be an independent biomarker for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer, but when combined with PSA the sensitivity increases to over 90% accuracy,” stated Harold Haines, Ph.D., president and founder of South Florida BioAssociates (Miami, FL, USA). "MIF assay sensitivity is over 70% accurate for bladder and ovarian cancers and is over-expressed in early stage I and II ovarian cancer as well as stages III and IV, thus it may improve the current Ca125 testing standard.”



Related Links:
Onco Detectors International