Inconsistent results or inconsistent methods? A plea for standardisation of biomarker sampling in mesothelioma studies

Reproducibility is a quality that all biomarkers must demonstrate before entering the clinical arena. In October's issue of Thorax , Creaney et al 1 reported important diagnostic performance data regarding fibulin-3 in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Their results (plasma area under the curve (AUC) 0.671, sensitivity 21%) are remarkably discordant with those reported by Pass et al ,2 using the same assay in a similarly designed study (plasma AUC 0.974–0.997, sensitivity 97%). Although some discordance is expected, this pattern is common in the MPM biomarker …