Low positive rate of serum autoantibodies in colorectal cancer patients without systemic rheumatic diseases.

Background: Antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing is useful for screening, diagnosis and follow-up of patients with systemic rheumatic diseases. Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on HEp-2 cells is the gold standard for ANA testing. However, ANA have also been detected in patients with different cancer types but without any autoimmune disease.

Primary hypolactasia diagnosis: Comparison between the gaxilose test, shortened lactose tolerance test, and clinical parameters corresponding to the C/T-13910 polymorphism.

Background & Aims: There is no consensus on the most accurate method to diagnose primary hypolactasia. We aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the new gaxilose test with 2 traditional tests (lactose tolerance test and clinical criteria) for the diagnosis of primary hypolactasia using the C/T-13910 polymorphism as a reference standard.

Methods: Patients with a clinical suspicion of lactose intolerance were subjected to gaxilose tests, shortened lactose tolerance tests, and symptom questionnaires before and after overload with 50 g lactose and after a lactose-free diet.

Plasma Tumor M2-Pyruvate Kinase Levels in Different Cancer Types.

Background/aim: Tumor M2-pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) is up-regulated in proliferating tissues. It has been shown that tumor M2-PK is detectable and quantifiable in the stool and plasma of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Tumor M2-PK has been extensively studied in gastrointestinal tumors but its role in other cancer types has not yet been deeply evaluated.