biostudies-literaturePeng YHNational Natural Science Foundation of China1388-96https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC4944864biostudies-literatureUnknown5(7)Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) can be treated effectively if diagnosed at an early stage. We evaluated whether measurement of Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) in combination of DKK-1 autoantibodies in serum may benefit early diagnosis of ESCC. Serum DKK-1 and DKK-1 autoantibodies were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a training cohort (185 ESCC samples vs. 97 normal controls) and validated in a validation cohort (104 ESCC samples vs. 53 normal controls). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was applied to calculate diagnostic accuracy. Testing of DKK-1 and DKK-1 autoantibodies together could differentiate ESCC from normal controls (area under the ROC curve [AUC] 0.769, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.715-0.823, 50.3% sensitivity, and 90.7% specificity in the training cohortCancer medicineCombined detection of serum Dickkopf-1 and its autoantibodies to diagnose esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.PMC49448648117226481472613Tan HZLi EMGuo HHong CQPeng YHHuang LSXu YWLi SSXu LYfalseCombined detection of serum Dickkopf-1 and its autoantibodies to diagnose esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) can be treated effectively if diagnosed at an early stage. We evaluated whether measurement of Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) in combination of DKK-1 autoantibodies in serum may benefit early diagnosis of ESCC. Serum DKK-1 and DKK-1 autoantibodies were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a training cohort (185 ESCC samples vs. 97 normal controls) and validated in a validation cohort (104 ESCC samples vs. 53 normal controls). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was applied to calculate diagnostic accuracy. Testing of DKK-1 and DKK-1 autoantibodies together could differentiate ESCC from normal controls (area under the ROC curve [AUC] 0.769, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.715-0.823, 50.3% sensitivity, and 90.7% specificity in the training cohort2016-01-01T00:00:00Z2016 Jul2025-04-18T18:10:07.298Z2019-03-27T02:18:21ZS-EPMC49448642698899510.1002/cam4.702