Study on the clinical value of combined determination of six tumor marker for diagnosis of pulmonary carcinoma

Objective: To study the clinical applicability of single/combined determination of six tumor markers (CEA, CA125, CA50, CA19-9, CA153, CYFRA21-1) for diagnosis of pulmonary carcinoma. Methods: Serum contents of these six tumor markers were determined with RIA in 130 patients with pulmonary carcinoma, 40 patients with various benign pulmonary disorders, and 45 controls. Results: (1) Only two false positive cases were found in the 40 patients with benign pulmonary disorders (CA125, n=1, CA153 n=1). (2) Positive rate of single marker in patients with pulmonary cancer: CYFRA21-1 (79.23%)>CA153 (61.53%) > CA125(58.46%)> CA19-9(57.69%) > CEA(46.92%) > CA50(43.84%). (3) Combined determination of CYFRA21-1 with any one of the other 5 markers would increase the positive rate to 86.15%-89.23%. (4) Mean value of any marker in the malignant cases were over 4 folds of that in the benign cases-high diagnostic credibility. (5) Histology of the malignancy (squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma) made no difference on the positive rate of the markers with the exception of a slight higher positive rate of CA19-9 in adenocarcinomas. Conclusion: The authors believe that combined determination of CYFRA21-1 with CA153 would be the first choice for diagnosis of pulmonary carcinoma, followed by CYFRA21-1 + CA125 or CA19-9. (authors)