title: Quantifying the expression of tumor marker genes in lung squamous cell cancer with RNA sequencing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We measured the expression of some commonly used tumor markers with RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to identify any that might be useful for the evaluation of squamous cell lung cancer and identify possible correlations between these tumor markers and any clinical characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  RNA-Seq was performed on five pairs of squamous-cell lung cancer and normal tissues and another 39 squamous-cell lung cancer tissues obtained by our department between September and December, 2012. The expression of 13 commonly used tumor markers was determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the patients in our study were male. The expressions of CA125, CYFRA21-1, NSE and SCC increased in tumor samples and there were statistically significant differences between squamous cell lung cancer and normal tissues (P=0.008, P<0.001, P<0.001, P=0.001). The expression of β2M and CA15-3 was reduced in squamous cell carcinoma relative to normal tissues and there was no significant difference in the expression of other tumor markers, including AFP, AFU, CT, FER and HE4.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CA125, CYFRA21-1, NSE and SCC may be appropriate tumor markers for squamous cell lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Yongxing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq); squamous cell lung cancer; tumor marker