Diagnostic value of epidermal growth factor, cancer antigen 125, and cancer antigen 15-3 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of lung cancer

Aim In the present study, we assessed the diagnostic value of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and cancer antigens 125 (CA125) and 15-3 (CA15-3) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of lung cancer from 79 enrolled patients with suspected lung cancer. Methods All patients underwent fibrescopic examination, during which BALF samples were collected. Levels of EGF, CA125, and CA15-3 were determined in BALF using commercially available test kits. Results The results showed that levels of EGF in BALF were significantly higher in patients with lung cancer than in patients with benign diseases (p < 0.01); no significant differences for CA125 (p = 0.67) or CA15-3 (p = 0.43) in BALF were observed between the lung cancer patients and the non-cancer control subjects. With a cut-off value of 27.22 pg/mL, EGF showed a sensitivity of 63.6% and a specificity of 65.7% in predicting the malignant nature of pulmonary disease. Conclusions The study findings suggest that levels of EGF are significantly increased in BALF from patients with lung cancer than in BALF from patients with benign disease. Detection of the level of EGF in BALF is proposed as a noninvasive test to identify patients at high risk for lung cancer.