Korean J Med.  2002 Apr;62(4):415-421.

Usefulness of cyfra 21-1 as a tumor marker of lung cancer

• Park HD
• Jeong HS
• Park JS
• Lim SH
• Lee EJ
• Yun JW
• Jung SS
• Shin HC
• Lee SS

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Cytokeratins are epithelial markers whose expressions are not lost during malignant transformation. The utility of cytokeratin fragment (Cyfra) 21-1, a new tumor marker, was investigated in 110 patients with lung cancer. The aims of this study were to confirm sensitivity of Cyfra 21-1 in detecting non-small cell cancer, to assess the potential relationship between Cyfra 21-1 and disease stage of the lung cancer.
METHODS
We measured serum levels of four tumor marker (NSE, CEA, SCC Ag, Cyfra 21-1) in 110 patients with lung cancer. The measurement of serum level of Cyfra 21-1 was performed with a cut off value of 3.3 ng/mL. An immunoradiometric assay was used to detect a fragment of the cytokeratin 19. The patients were grouped according to the stage of the disease and tumor type.
RESULTS
Overall sensitivity of Cyfra 21-1 was relatively high (51.8%) than others tumor markers. Sensitivity of this marker was especially high for adenocarcinoma (63.2%) and squamous cell carcinoma (54.1%). In contrast, sensitiviy of Cyfra 21-1 was relatively low for small cell lung carcinoma (40.0%). Serum levels of Cyfra 21-1 were higher in advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer than early stage disease.
CONCLUSION
We conclude that Cyfra 21-1 is a sensitive tumor marker of nonsmall cell lung cancer, especially adenocarcinoma and also may be a useful adjunctive marker for disease monitoring.

Keyword

Cyfra 21-1; Lung cancer; Tumor marker

MeSH Terms

Adenocarcinoma
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
Humans
Immunoradiometric Assay
Keratin-19
Keratins
Lung Neoplasms*
Lung*
Small Cell Lung Carcinoma
Biomarkers, Tumor
Keratin-19
Keratins