Abstract:

Objective To explore the value of the serum neuron-specific enolase(NSE), carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA), and carbohydrate antigen 125(CA125) levels in the diagnosis and efficacy evaluation of patients with small cell lung cancer(SCLC). Methods Forty eight patients with SCLC(SCLC group) and 53 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC group) admitted in People's Hospital of Zhengzhou were selected, the normal subjects in physical examination in the hospital during the same period were separately selected and divided into the control group. The serum levels of NSE, CEA and CA125 of patients was tested in all groups respectively, and the serum levels of NSE, CEA and CA125 of SCLC patients in all groups in 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks after chemotherapy were tested. Results NSE level in the SCLC group was significantly higher than that in NSCLC group, and CEA and CA125 levels were significantly lower than NSCLC group (P<0.05). ROC results showed that AUC of NSE, CEA, and CA125 of the diagnosis of SCLC was 0.825, 0.613, 0.533, respectively, and the sensitivity and specificity were 77.1%, 81.1%, 58.3%, 66%, 89.6%, 41.9%, respectively. Compared the level of NSE at different stage of TNM, it satisfied stage Ⅳ> stage Ⅲ> stage Ⅱ> stage Ⅰ (P<0.05). The difference in the level of CEA and CA125 was not significant (P>0.05); the level of NSE and CEA after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment(P<0.05) (4 w <2 w <1 w), and the difference in the level of CA125 was not significant (P>0.05). Conclusion Serum NSE is eligible to be used as one important tumor marker for diagnosis and clinical staging of SCLC, NSE and CEA are of important reference value for efficacy of SCLC, while CA125 has low specificity in the diagnosis of SCLC and is not suitable as a tumor marker of SCLC.

Key words: small cell lung carcinoma, neuron-specific enolase, carcinoembryonic antigen, antigens, tumor-associated, carbohydrate