Testing positive for the CCP antibody test does not automatically mean that you have RA. A CCP test can be positive in other rheumatic diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Sj?gren's syndrome, scleroderma, and cryoglobulinemia, as well as in some infectious diseases. In addition, 1% of healthy people will have positive CCP tests.
Testing positive for the CCP antibody test does not automatically mean that you have RA.
Some studies have indicated that patients with RA who have CCP antibodies early in the course of their disease tend to develop RA that is more destructive to the joints. Other investigators have confirmed this relationship and have suggested that the CCP test is superior to the RF test in predicting the severity of RA. The use of this test may, therefore, help your physician to decide whether you should undergo a more aggressive (and riskier) treatment course at an earlier stage of the disease.
Based on these and other studies, physicians recommend that a CCP antibody test should be ordered in the following situations:
- When you have signs and symptoms of RA, but your test for RF is negative or equivocal.
- When you are at high risk for having RA based on your physical exam and other diagnostic tests, and your doctor wants to increase the accuracy of the diagnosis.
- When you have no signs or symptoms of RA, but a RF test is positive, and your doctor wants to eliminate the chance that you may have early-stage RA without joint symptoms.
- When you have been positively diagnosed with RA and your physician wants to monitor your disease activity.
- When you have been positively diagnosed with RA and your physician wants to evaluate your prognosis and make decisions about future treatment. That is, this test is used when your doctor suspects that you will have a more destructive form of RA and would like to use the CCP test results to help decide whether more aggressive therapy is warranted.