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[Editor: I have had numerous inquiries about the Anti-Malignin Antibody Test. The following should help anyone who is going to rely on this test. John H. Renner MD]
I am a pathologist, board-certified in both anatomic and clinical pathology. I operate the world's largest public pathology site, which includes a free personalized help line. I have received about ten inquiries in the past few years about the "anti-malignin antibody in serum" blood test CAMAS). This is said to be an extremely accurate way of determining whether cancer is present somewhere in the body. This is every pathologist's dream. As its proponents point out, such an assay could replace the current methods of cancer screening, and would render most biopsies and other invasive studies unnecessary. "Anti-malignin antibody" has been promoted as such for over twenty years by a single husband-wife team, with occasional brief reports in the medical literature. The team operates the only lab which offers the test. They claim to assay for a substance called "malignin", and for antibodies against it. Unlike other independent medical thinkers, the team is not presenting a mysterious, arcane, or secret substance. They claim instead that it's a tumor antigen, like many others that are known - except that it is ubiquitous among malignant cells and distinguishes them from their benign counterparts. They have conducted themselves decently, and obviously believe in their test. The team is the only group offering the assay. There is an Italian report, not from the main group, but in the obscure International Journal of Biological Markers from 1997 which I presently have on order. The promoter's website states that Smith-Kline labs also did the test and published results in symposium proceedings in 1983, though nothing in the refereed scientific literature. That's all.
The wording of the claims for "anti-malignin antibody" never actually say that a person can forego pap smears, mammography, or biopsy of suspicious lesions. But some of the test's proponents suggest that this is possible, and this makes me worry about a public health hazard.
I have no first-hand knowledge of the team that offers the test, and am relying (as is the norm in real science) on publications. According to the 1999 AMA directory, he is boarded in neurology-psychiatry, but...