Abstract:

Objective    To investigate the clinical significance of serum cytokeratin19 fragments (CYFRA 21-1), neuron specific enolase ( NSE) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer． Methods     Serum CYFRA21-1, NSE and CEA were measured with chromatometrychemoluminescence method in 68 patients with lung cancer at different TNM stages(the lung cancer group)， 36 patients with benign lung diseases( the lung benign group)， and 28 healthy people(the healthy group), and the relationship of CYFRA21-1, NSE and CEA with TNM stages were analyzed．  Survival curves were estimated to analyze the relationship of CYFRA21-1, NSE and CEA with survival time using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results    Serum levels of CYFRA 211, NSE and CEA were significantly higher in the lung cancer group than in lung benign and healthy groups(both P<0.01). There were positive relations of CYFRA 21-1, NSE and CEA with the TNM stage, and negative relations with survival time（P<0.01）. CYFRA21-1 had the highest sensitivity(78.72%) in non-small cell lung cancer, and NSE had the highest sensitivity(91.23%)in small cell lung cancer. Conclusion     Serum levels of CYFRA 21-1, NSE and CEA are significantly raised in patients with lung cancer， which suggests that they are important markers for the early diagnosis, development and prognosis of lung cancer．

Key words: Lung tumor； Tumor marker；  Cytokeratin19 fragments； Neuron specific enolase； Carcinoembryonic antigen； Survival time