The Expression And Clinical Significance Of CEA MRNA And CK19 MRNA In Peripheral Blood Of Patients With Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of Carcinoembryonic antigen ( CEA )mRNA and cytokeratin 19(CK19)mRNA in peripheral blood of patients with non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods Carcinoembryonic antigen mRNA (CEA mRNA) and cytokeratin 19 mRNA(CK19 mRNA) were used as target genes, the expression of CEA mRNA and CK19 mRNA had been examined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR ) in peripheral blood of 30 benign lung diseases(BLD),46 non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)patients . Results The positive rate of CEA mRNA and CK19 mRNA in lung cancer group (39.1%,30.4% respectively)was remarkably higher than in benign lung diseases patients group. The positive rate of CEA mRNA was increased with more advanced TNM stage(P<0.05) ,but no statistical significance was found in CK19 mRNA group(P>0.05). No significant correlation was found between different pathology types,sex and age (P>0.05). Combination detection of two markers yield higher sensitivity(60.9ï¼…)than that of single marker in diagnosis of lung cancer. Conclusions RT-PCR assay for CEA mRNA and CK19 mRNA is a sensitive and specific method to detect peripheral blood micrometastasis in NSCLC. NSCLC might be regarded as systemic disease even in early stage. Combination detecting the expression of CEA mRNA and CK19 mRNA in peripheral blood of NSCLC patients may contribute to improve sensation of diagnosis . We conclude that combination detection of CEA mRNA and CK19 mRNA is a reliable method for the detection of epithelial cells micrometastasis in peripheral blood.