Expression of CK19-mRNA and CEA-mRNA biomarkers in pleural fluid of patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

© 2017 Edizioni Minerva Medica. BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the most mortal diseases in the word. There are lots of researches in the world focusing on non-invasive laboratory tests for diagnosis and screening non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in early stage that could help the oncologist and surgeon to select the best treatment panel for the patient. Most of these research trials are working on different type of biomarkers in biological body fluids in patients with NSCLC, but still a definite sensitive and specific biomarker has not reached common consensus yet. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of expression of the two mRNA biomarkers; carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) mRNA and cytokeratin19 (CK19) m RNA in pleural effusion of patient with NSCLC. METHODS: Forty patients with lung cancer and forty healthy individuals were studied in this paper. All samples were examined using the real-time RT-PCR method. RESULTS: The expression of CEA-mRNA was positive in 30 out of 40 patients with NSCLC indicative for 75% sensitivity and 12 out of 40 of healthy individuals (30% false positive) indicative for 70% specificity. The expression of CK19-mRNA was positive in 26 out of 40 patients with NSCLC indicative for 65% sensitivity and 8 out of 40 healthy individuals (20% false positive) indicative for 80% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of mRNA biomarker expression in pleural fluid of patients with NSLC can be used as a diagnostic or screening test for detecting NSCLC in early stages.