title: Value of plasma NH2-terminal fragment of pro-opiomelanocortin in marking human lung cancer in various clinical settings.
abstract: Plasma concentration of amino-terminal segment of pro-opiomelanocortin (N-POMC) was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in 144 patients with various forms of lung cancer during pneumonectomy, at different times of the day after being newly diagnosed and serially, throughout their treatment (surgery or chemotherapy) in order to assess its value as a biomarker in this disease. Normal volunteers, coal miners smoking but without known lung diseases, and the patients with diverse pulmonary disorders served as comparison groups. A significant transtumoral gradient of N-POMC was found at surgery in 15 of 57 (26%) patients. Subjects without lung afflictions had significantly lower N-POMC levels than patients with pulmonary diseases (benign or malignant) only when the blood was drawn before breakfast. Furthermore, fasting levels in all subgroups of patients were higher at any time of the day than nonfasting ones. Finally, N-POMC levels did not decrease significantly after successful treatment of lung cancer (by surgery or chemotherapy) but were markedly higher after relapse. These results suggest that N-POMC, despite the fact that it cannot be used to discriminate lung cancer patients from controls, is a biomarker which may predict relapse in patients successfully treated by chemotherapy for their pulmonary neoplasm.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Institute of Montréal, University of Montréal, Québec.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benjannet
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Seidah
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nadeau
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duranceau
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lafontaine
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beaulieu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chrétien
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000097:blood; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000097:blood*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin