Serum pleiotrophin could be an early indicator for diagnosis and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Pleiotrophin (PTN), an angiogenic factor, is associated with various types of cancer, including lung cancer. Our aim was to investigate the possibility of using serum PTN as an early indicator regarding disease diagnosis, classification and prognosis, for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


METHODS
Significant differences among PTN levels in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC, n=40), NSCLC (n=136), and control subjects with benign pulmonary lesions (n=21), as well as patients with different pathological subtypes of NSCLC were observed.


RESULTS
A serum level of PTN of 300.1 ng/ml, was determined as the cutoff value differentiating lung cancer patients and controls, with a sensitivity and specificity of 78.4% and 66.7%, respectively. Negative correlations between serum PTN level and pathological differentiation level, stage, and survival time were observed in our cohort of patients with NSCLC. In addition, specific elevation of PTN levels in pulmonary tissue in and around NSCLC lesions in comparison to normal pulmonary tissue obtained from the same subjects was also observed (n=2).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that the serum PTN level of patients with NSCLC could be an early indicator for diagnosis and prognosis. This conclusion should be further assessed in randomized clinical trials.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China E-mail : luccqr@126.com.
Zi-Yan
ZY
Du
Min-Hua
MH
Shi
Cheng-Hong
CH
Ji
Yong
Y
Yu
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D016207:Cytokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C066845:pleiotrophin