The clinical utility of a new tumor marker for lung cancer Cyfra 21-1

Cytokeratins expressed in epithelial cells from respiratory epithelium are also expressed in situ by lung cancers. The Cyfra 21-1 assay is a newly developed test which measures in serum fragments of cytokeratin 19. The aim of our study was to asses the clinical utility of the protein as a marker for lung cancer. We evaluated this marker in 196 patients with lung cancer , 33 patients with being lung diseases and 60 healthy individuals. Significantly higher levels were observed in patients with lung cancer but there was not difference between histological types of lung cancer. Concentration of Cyfra 21-1 significantly correlated with the stage of disease and the highest levels were found in patients with metastases. Consequently the marker was significantly lower in patients who were operated upon when compared with unresectable ones p,0.0001. In addition we observed a correlation between Cyfra 21-1 concentration and survival time. Cyfra 21-1 as a tumor marker is clinically useful especially for NSCLC. (author)