Performance of serum lipocalin 2 as a diagnostic marker for colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: Lipocalin 2 has been implicated in colorectal tumorigenesis but its usefulness as a diagnostic marker for the disease has previously never been determined. METHODS: We have used ELISA immunoassay to measure the level of serum lipocalin 2 in a cohort consisting of colorectal cancer patients (n = 196) and age/gender matched controls (n = 99). RESULTS: The median concentration of lipocalin 2 was found to be significantly higher (p < 0.0001) in the patient group (105.9 ng/mL, range 10.8-444.7 ng/mL) when compared to the control subjects (86.4 ng/mL, range 17.1-190.0 ng/mL). Additionally, no significant difference was observed between disease stage (Dukes' or T stage) in the patient cohort. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine its performance as a diagnostic marker. The area under the curve was found to be 0.641 (95% confidence interval 0.576-0.706). Furthermore, the sensitivity of lipocalin 2 was found to be 24% at 90% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that lipocalin 2 is not a suitable serum biomarker for the diagnosis of CRC.