Preoperative CYFRA 21-1 and CEA as Prognostic Factors in Patients with Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Objective: To validate the prognostic value of preoperative levels
of CYFRA 21-1, CEA and the corresponding tumor marker index (TMI)
in patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: Two hundred forty stage I NSCLC patients (80 in pT1 and
160 in pT2; 100 squamous cell carcinomas, 91 adenocarcinomas, 32
large-cell carcinomas, 17 with other histologies; 171 males and 69
females) who had complete resection (R0) between 1986 and 2004 were
included in the analysis. CYFRA 21-1 and CEA were measured using
the Elecsys system (Roche) and AxSym-System (Abbott), respectively.
Univariate analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method to
identify potential associations between survival and age, gender,
CYFRA 21-1, CEA and TMI. Results: Overall 3- and 5-year survival
rates were 74 and 64%, respectively. Male gender (p = 0.0009) and
age 1 70 years (p = 0.0041) were associated with a worse prognosis;
there were no differences between pT1 and pT2 nor between
histological subtypes. Three- year survival was 72% for CYFRA 21-1
levels > 3.3 ng/ml versus 75% for levels 6.7 ng/ ml versus 75% for CEA 70 years were associated with a
worse outcome, but elevated levels of CEA and CYFRA 21-1, and TMI
risk were not. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.