MULTIPLE SEQUENTIAL BIOMARKERS IN MONITORING PATIENTS WITH CARCINOMA OF THE LUNG

Abstract

To correlate serial biomarkers and disease activity in carcinoma of the lung, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), ACTH, [complement] C3-derived protein (C3DP-C) and LDH [lactic dehydrogenase] were assayed in 43 patients with small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and in 20 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (15 with adenocarcinoma, 3 with squamous cell carcinoma and 2 with mixed histology). Disease status after treatment was rated as one of the following: complete responses, partial response, minor regression, stable disease and progressive disease. Significant correlations between disease status and markers in SCLC were found for CEA, NSE, LDH and ACTH. In NSCLC, only CEA and LDH showed significant correlation. Marker-marker correlations were significant in SCLC for CEA and NSE (P < 0.05), CEA and LDH (P = 0.01), and NSE and LDH (P < 0.01); in NSCLC none were significant. None of the markers exhibited significant correlations with specific metastatic sites. Certain biomarkers (CEA, NSE and LDH in SCLC; CEA and LDH in NSCLC) can be used alone or in combination to monitor disease activity but appear to be no more sensitive than standard clinical investigational methods.