RIA is characterized by its high sensitivity, outstanding
specificity and high precision with the general diagnostic
gram (the highest figure may
sensitivity reaching 10 reach 10-15
-9
to 10-12
gram). For some kinds of cancer and cardiovascular
diseases, RIA is an effective means for early diagnosis.
A
The RIA method has been
typical case is that the application of RIA in the measurement
of the AFP content in human blood can lead to early-stage
diagnosis of primary liver cancer. used to conduct a general survey of liver cancer in certain liver-
cancer-frequent area; and among the 190 000 persons under the general survey, 300 cases of primary liver cancer have been
detected, among which 134 cases are early-stage patients with
no symptoms. In this way, a batch of people have been saved.
Furthermore, the measuring of certain bio-active substances
in blood plasma (e.g. muscle hemoglobin, corticosteroid, CGMP, etc.) can also play quite an important role in determining the
cardiovascular diseases and monitoring their pathological changes.
The measurement of HCG can detect early pregnancy within 32-
34 days from the last menstruation; and it is also a sensitive
index indicating the diagnosis and curing effect for patients
suffering from malignant hydatid mole. The measuring of the
various thyroid hormones in the blood serum of the women in
puerperium is helpful for detecting timely the infantile cretinism,
thus saving many children from the fate of being life-long idiots.
Besides, the simultaneous detection of HCG and a-fetoprotein
(AFP) with RIA can judge whether the infant has any deformity.
P. 6
The Translation Division of Tai Dao Publishing Ltd.