Background: To judge clinical and prognostic values of serum CEA, NSE, CYFRA211, CA125 and CA199 levels in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) .
Methods: Ninety-five untreated but confirmed by histology or cytology patients with advanced NSCLC were studied. The serum levels of CEA, NSE, CYFRA211, CA125 and CA199 were detected before and after treatment by cisplatin-based regimens.
Results: The positive rate was 53. 7%, 70. 5%, 62. 2%, 54. 1% and 31. 6% for CEA, NSE, CYFRA211, CA125, CA199 respectively, before treatment. The significant decreases of the markers were observed in 39 partial response patients ( P= 0. 030, 0. 000, 0. 009, 0. 002, 0. 034 respectively) . The overall 1- and 2-year survival rate were 52. 7%( 50/ 95) and 14. 7%( 14/ 95) respectively. Cox proportional hazard multivariate analysis showed that the prognosis of advanced NSCLC patients was related to response rate of first cycle, staging, performance status and serum CYFAR211 level before treatment, but not to histology and serum levels of CEA, NSE, CA125 and CA199 before treatment.
Conclusions: The decrease in CEA, NSE, CYFRA211, CA125, and CA199 levels could be used to evaluate the chemotherapeutic response. TNM stage and performance status and CYFRA211 before treatment can be used as prognostic parameters in patients with advanced NSCLC.