title: The role of the NH2-terminal portion of pro-opiomelanocortin as a biomarker for human lung cancer.
abstract: In an epidemiological study, we evaluated the human amino-terminal portion (IR-hNT) of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) as a biomarker for lung cancer by measuring it by radioimmunoassay in the plasma of 180 patients with various histological types of pulmonary carcinoma. Seventy-seven patients with other cancers or benign lung disorders were our controls. An elevated IR-hNT level was measured in 12 percent of the lung neoplasm cases (22% in small-cell carcinoma) and in only 6 percent of the controls. The mean level in the lung cancer group was also higher than in the controls (p = 0.004), while it was higher in patients with small-cell carcinoma than in those with squamous-cell and adenocarcinoma (p = 0.013 and 0.002, respectively). Otherwise, we demonstrated a correlation between IR-hNT levels and altered liver function only in patients with a lung malignancy (p varying between 0.015 and less than 0.001). Finally, survival analysis failed to show that IR-hNT has a prognostic value when measured at the onset of lung cancer. These results allow us to conclude that IR-hNT, although not very sensitive in screening for carcinoma of the lung, may indicate the presence of liver metastases in this disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemical, Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Walop
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: W O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Spitzer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chrétien
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C028182:proopiocortin fragments; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone