A COMPARISON OF THE MACROPHAGE MIGRATION INHIBITION (MMI) ASSAY AND THE SEMI‐AUTOMATED LEUCOCYTE ADHERENCE INHIBITION (SALAI) ASSAY

Abstract

The present study was undertaken in order to compare simultaneously the semi-automated leucocyte adherence inhibition (SALAI) assay with the two-stage macrophage migration inhibition (MMI) assay in patients with colorectal disease. Eighty-six patients were assayed simultaneously in the MMI assay and the SALAI assays using patients' leucocytes and 83 patients were assayed simultaneously in the MMI assay and the SALAI assay using patients' serum. The SALAI assay using patients' leucocytes was more sensitive (70% vs 40%) and more specific (87% vs 73.3%) than the MMI assay. The SALAI assay was simple to perform, allowed many replicate samples and was more specific and sensitive in relation to the detection of colorectal cancer than other more commonly advocated tests. It may be useful as a screening test for colorectal cancer and it is suggested that further studies should be undertaken in this area.