Table 2.

Results of real-time RT-PCR assay of carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA and combination markers in peripheral blood of 27 CRC patients and 27 healthy volunteers in comparison to pathologic results as gold standard diagnostic test.

Marker results		Gold standard
		Positive	Negative
CEA mRNA	positive	21*	3**
	negative	6***	24****
hTERT mRNA	positive	22*	9**
	negative	5***	18****
CEA + hTERT mRNA	positive	25*	9**
	negative	2***	18****

Numbers of *true positives; **false positives; ***false negatives; ****true negatives