Background: Finding a suitable marker with high sensitivity and specificity for early diagnosis of cancer is very desirable. This study was aimed to determine the diagnostic value of serum CYFRA21-1, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) for screening of lung cancer patients in western Iran.
Methods: This descriptive analytical case-control study was performed on 30 subjects with malignant and 81 with benign lung cancer. Serum levels of CYFRA21-1, CEA, and NSE were determined.
Results: The concentration of serum tumor markers was significantly higher in the malignant group than in the benign subjects. The highest sensitivity was obtained by measurement of serum NSE (73%). The highest specificity was obtained by measurement of serum CYFRA21-1 (95%).
Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the usefulness of measuring CYFRA21-1 and NSE together for early screening of lung cancer in western Iran.