Evaluation of the serum markers CEA, NSE, TPS and CYFRA 21.1 in lung cancer.

We investigated the role of tumor markers CEA, NSE, TPS and CYFRA 21.1 in lung cancer diagnosis and staging in 169 patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer (43 SCLC and 126 NSCLC). In SCLC patients NSE and CYFRA 21.1 showed the highest sensitivity and their combination improve significantly the diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy. In NSCLC patients CYFRA 21.1 showed the highest sensitivity and global accuracy and no markers association was as effective as CYFRA 21.1 alone. Based on data from our study it can be concluded that in patients with suspected lung cancer the serum NSE and CYFRA 21.1 assay is a suitable association to confirm the clinical hypothesis. NSE in SCLC and CYFRA 21.1 in NSCLC are useful in the evaluation of disease extent and successive treatment planning.