Assessment of Specific Tumoral Markers, Inflammatory Status, and Vitamin D Metabolism before and after the First Chemotherapy Cycle in Patients with Lung Cancer

Simple Summary In patients with lung cancer, serum levels of neuron specific enolase were significantly decreased after the first chemotherapy cycle compared to pre-treatment values. In addition, the post-treatment values of neopterin were lower as well, but with marginal statistical significance. Conversely, circulating levels of chitotriosidase, squamous cell carcinoma antigen, vitamin D, and vitamin D receptor were not significantly modified in response to the first chemotherapy cycle. Background: We aimed to investigate the changes of inflammatory status reflected by serum levels of chitotriosidase (CHT) and neopterin, and how specific tumor markers such as neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA), as well as vitamin D metabolism assessed by vitamin D receptor (VDR) and 25-hydroxy vitamin D-3 (25OHD(3)), were modified after the first cycle of chemotherapy in patients with lung cancer. Methods: We performed this first pilot study on twenty patients diagnosed with lung cancer by investigating the serum concentrations of CHT, neopterin, NSE, SCCA, VDR and 25OHD(3) before and after the first cycle of chemotherapy. Results: The post-treatment values of NSE were significantly lower compared to the pre-treatment levels (14.37 vs. 17.10 ng/mL, p = 0.031). We noticed a similar trend in neopterin levels, but the difference was only marginally significant (1.44 vs. 1.17 ng/mL, p = 0.069). On the contrary, the variations of circulating SCCA, CHT, neopterin, VDR and 25OHD(3), before and after treatment, did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: Only circulating NSE was treatment responsive to the first chemotherapy cycle in patients with lung cancer, while inflammatory markers and vitamin D status were not significantly modified.