title: c-erbB-2 protein in serum of primary lung cancer patients.
abstract: We determined c-erbB-2 protein level in serum of 86 primary lung cancer patients (78 non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC), 3 small cell carcinomas, 5 not histologically defined) and in 61 controls. Aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of c-erbB-2 as marker for lung cancer diagnosis. The protein was measured with a commercially available sandwich enzyme immunoassay. Mean levels of c-erbB-2 were 72.8 +/- 122.3 fmol/ml in lung cancers and 64.6 +/- 17.5 fmol/ml in controls (P = 0.2). No association was found between c-erbB-2 levels and histotype, tumor stage, sex and smoking habits. Among NSCLC, only four patients showed a c-erbB-2 concentration higher than the selected cut-off value of 99.6 fmol/ml. Subjects with levels higher than the 75th percentile in tumors (73 fmol/ml) had a shorter median survival than those with lower levels (6.3 months versus 10.0 months, P = 0.003). Our results indicated that serum c-erbB-2 protein is not a reliable diagnostic marker. There is, however, a suggestion of a possible clinical usefulness in terms of survival prediction.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Epidemiology and Applied Biostatistics, National Cancer Research Institute, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Filiberti
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marroni
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paganuzzi
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Izzo
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Padovani
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cafferata
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ardizzoni
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Raimondi
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Puntoni
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000097:blood*; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases