Objective: Distinguishing early lung cancer from pulmonary tuberculosis is difficult. Biomarkers have been applied to tumor diagnoses widely. However, the ability for tumor biomarkers to uniquely identify either lung cancer or pulmonary tuberculosis remains controversial.
Methods: The retrospective analysis of patients hospitalized with suspected pathological tissue mass in their thoracic cage, found via imaging, was conducted. The levels of tumor biomarkers CEA, NSE, CYFRA21-1, Pro-GRP, and SCC-Ag were measured and compared in patients with defined lung cancer (N=235) and pulmonary tuberculosis (N=224), respectively.
Results: In the study, Serum CEA, NSE, CYFRA21-1, Pro-GRP, and SCC-Ag levels were significantly higher in the lung cancer group than in the pulmonary tuberculosis group (P<0.001). The combined detection of CEA, CYFRA21-1, and NSE was used to diagnose lung cancer with a specificity of 89.9%, and a sensitivity of 94.9%. The detection's accuracy was higher (AUC=0.972) than five tumor biomarkers alone or combined.
Conclusion: The combination of CEA, CYFRA21-1, and NSE possesses better values for identifying lung cancer patients who are at a high risk of being misdiagnosed for pulmonary tuberculosis.
Keywords: Diagnosis; Lung cancer; Pulmonary tuberculosis; Tumor biomarker.
© 2019 by the Association of Clinical Scientists, Inc.