title: mRNA expression of CK19, EGFR and LUNX in patients with lung cancer micrometastasis.
abstract: To evaluate the clinical significance of mRNA expression of cytokeratin 19 (CK19), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and lung-specific X protein (LUNX), a total of 42 patients who were diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by pathology were studied retrospectively. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of CK19, EGFR and LUNX in the peripheral blood were analyzed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression of CK19 mRNA did not differ significantly according to the location, size, clinical stage or differentiation of the primary tumor (all P>0.05). However, there was a significant difference in the level of CK19 mRNA expression between squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. The positive rates of EGFR mRNA in the patient and the healthy control groups were 69.0 and 12.5%, respectively, and were significantly different (P<0.05). The positive rates of LUNX mRNA in the two groups were 40.5 and 0%, respectively, and were significantly different (P<0.05). The results indicate that the mRNA expression of CK19, EGFR and LUNX in the peripheral blood is of significant clinical value for the diagnosis of micrometastasis and the prognosis of lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou First People's Hospital, Taizhou, Zhejiang 318020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiansen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou First People's Hospital, Taizhou, Zhejiang 318020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou First People's Hospital, Taizhou, Zhejiang 318020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Changfa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou First People's Hospital, Taizhou, Zhejiang 318020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Lixia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Taizhou First People's Hospital, Taizhou, Zhejiang 318020, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zeshan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: cytokeratin 19; epidermal growth factor receptor; lung cancer; lung-specific X protein; micrometastasis