Serum carcinoembryonic antigen, neuron-specific enolase as biomarkers for diagnosis of nonsmall cell lung cancer

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) as biomarkers for diagnosis of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Material and Methods: Forty-six cytology or pathology confirmed nonsmall cell lung patients and 33 cases of benign lung disease (BLD) were retrospective reviewed in our hospital from February 2013 to January 2016. The serum concentrations of CEA and NSE were measured by chemiluminescent assay. The sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (area under the curve) of serum CEA and NSE as biomarkers for diagnosis of lung cancer were analyzed by SPSS version 17.0 software. Results: The serum CEA and NSE concentration were 30.69 14.11 ng/mL, 52.36 49.68 ng/mL for NSCLC patients and 12.69 8.87 ng/mL, 5.32 4.66 for BLD patients, respectively with statistical difference (P < 0.05); the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 58.66% and 76.48% for serum CEA at the cutoff value of 5.74 ng/mL and 66.67% and 78.69% for serum NSE at the cutoff value of 19.35 ng/mL; the diagnostic area under the ROC curve was 0.81 and 0.76 for CEA and NSE, respectively as biomarkers for diagnosis of NSCLC. Conclusion: Serum CEA and NSE are potential biomarker for NSCLC diagnosis.