[Cyfra 21-1 new marker for non-small cell lung cancer]

The aim of the study is to estimate the new tumor marker CYFRA 21-1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and comparison of this results with SCC-Ag. The investigation was carried out on 115 NSCLC patients (55 with squamous cell, 35 with adenocarcinoma, 25 with large cell) qualified for surgical treatment and in 48 nonmalignant lung diseases patients. CYFRA 21-1 was determined by the means of IRMA method (CIS bio international--GIF-SUR-Yvette, France) and SCC-Ag--MEIA method (IMx system Abbott). Elevated levels of CYFRA 21-1 were obtained in 48.7% and SCC-Ag in 39.1%. Elevated levels of examined markers most frequently occurred in squamous cell type (SCC). It was found out that CYFRA 21-1 dependent on: a) SCC stage (I-40%, II-61.1%, III-85.2%), b) tumor size (T1-38.4%, T2-73.1%, T3-87.5%), c) mediastinal lymph nodes metastases (No and N1-53.8% and N2-86.9%). Similar correlations were not observed in SCC-Ag examination. Simultaneous determination of CYFRA 21-1 and SCC-Ag showed minimal sensitivity increase from 48.7% to 52.1% in NSCLC and from 69.1% to 70.1% in SCC and decrease of specificity from 95.8% to 85.4%. To sum up, determination of CYFRA 21-1 in NSCLC patients (especially in SCC patients) is useful in diagnosis and clinical stage determination.