Mr. Yeboah, diagnosed with a malignant tumour of the liver had it removed and was given a course of chemotherapy. Initially, tumour marker (AFP) activity activity was 7500KU/L (which is very high) but after treatment, this gradually declined to only 5KU/L. A routine follo
Mr. Yeboah, diagnosed with a malignant tumour of the liver
had it removed and was given a course of chemotherapy.
Initially, tumour marker (AFP) activity activity was 7500KU/L
(which is very high) but after treatment, this gradually
declined to only 5KU/L. A routine follow up test was perfomed
after 3 months and the results was 15KU/L for AFP. The doctor
suspected a relapse of the tumour and so referred Mr. Yeboah
to an oncologist at a cancer centre who also did a re-check.
AFP was recorded to be 5KU/L. Enquiries revealed that the
hospital and the cancer centre use different instruments for
the measurement of AFP. Both results are normal even
though the values are significantly different because different
methods were used.
a) How can both labs confirm that the results are not clinically
significant?
b) How can both labs avoid this happening again?
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