Objective: To investigate the expressions of BJ-TSA-9, CK19 and Pre-proGRP mRNA in peripheral blood from the patients with non-small cell lung cancer and analyze their correlations with non-small cell lung cancer.
Methods: The expressions of BJ-TSA-9, CK19 and Pre-proGRP mRNA were detected by nested reverse transcription-PCR assay in peripheral blood from the patients with non-small cell lung cancer (n = 120), benign pulmonary disease (n = 106) and from healthy subjects (n = 80) so as to further investigate their relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis. Meantime we also examined the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of combination detection.
Results: The expressions of BJ-TSA-9, CK19 and Pre-proGRP mRNA in non-small cell lung cancer patients were 56.7%, 57.5%, 35.0%, higher than that of benign pulmonary disease (0.9%, 6.6%, 5.7%) and healthy groups (0, 3.8%, 0, all P < 0.05). The ROC curves indicated the sensitivity of combined detection was 84.3% and the specificity of combined detection was 94.6%. Univariate analysis revealed that the clinical stage, the ECOG score and the number of positive marker had significant association with overall survival (OS) (χ(2) = 67.928, 95.981, 60.285, all P = 0.000). Multivariate analysis indicated that the clinical stage, ECOG score and the number of positive marker was an independent prognostic factor each (HR = 2.866, 4.251, 1.845, all P = 0.000).
Conclusion: BJ-TSA-9, CK19 and Pre-proGRP mRNA may be the specific and sensitive markers to detect circulating tumor cells in the peripheral blood of non-small cell lung cancer patients.