Improvement of the diagnosis of the cause of pleural effusion in patients with lung cancer by simultaneous quantification of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) pleural levels

Ratio of carcinoembryonic antigen in pleural fluid and serum for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion

Background

Tumour markers in pleural fluid and their diagnostic value are subject to debate. Although there are several studies on this topic, standardized cut-off values do not exist. In this study we investigated the potential of a ratio of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in pleural fluid and serum, serving as an individual marker for pleural cancer manifestation.

Methods

A total of 201 consecutive patients with unclear pleural effusion were included in the study; 98 were diagnosed with malignant pleural effusion and 103 had an effusion due to other, benign reasons. CEA levels in pleural fluid and serum were measured.

Results

By using receiver operating characteristics analysis, at the cut-off of 1.0, the CEA ratio showed a specificity of 92% and sensitivity of 85%, with a positive predictive value of 91% and a negative predictive value of 87%. These results are higher than in previous investigations on different pleural tumour markers and their combination.

Conclusions

The CEA ratio is a useful tool in predicting pleural carcinosis. Elevated results in cytology-negative patients should lead to further investigations, such as repeated cytological examination or thoracoscopy.

Is neuron-specific enolase useful for diagnosing malignant pleural effusions? evidence from a validation study and meta-analysis

Background

Neuron-Specific enolase (NSE) has been used as a typical tumor marker and shows a potential to diagnose malignant pleural effusion (MPE). The ability of NSE in diagnosing MPE has been investigated in many studies, but with inconsistent conclusions. This study sought to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of NSE for MPE through a clinical study and together with a meta-analysis.

Methods

Pleural effusion samples from 136 patients with MPE and 102 patients with benign pleural effusion (BPE) were collected, and NSE levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the ability of NSE to differentiate MPE from BPE. Literature search was conducted to identify suitable publications, data were extracted and diagnostic indexes including sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative likelihood ratio (PLR/NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were pooled. Summary ROC curve was generated to determine the overall diagnostic accuracy of NSE for MPE.

Results

Levels of NSE were significantly increased in pleural effusion from patients with MPE than that from BPE (18.53 ± 27.30 vs. 6.41 ± 6.95 ng/ml, p < 0.001). With a cut-off value of 8.92 ng/ml, pleural NSE had a sensitivity of 59.56% and a specificity of 83.33% in diagnosing MPE. A total of 14 studies with 1896 subjects were included for meta-analysis. The diagnostic parameters of NSE were listed as follows: sensitivity, 0.53 (95% CI: 0.38–0.67); specificity, 0.85 (95% CI: 0.75–0.91); PLR, 3.54 (95% CI: 2.33–5.39); NLR, 0.56 (95% CI: 0.42–0.73); and DOR, 6.39 (95% CI: 3.72–10.96). The area under the summary ROC curve was 0.78.

Conclusions

The role of pleural NSE measurement in diagnosing MPE is limited and with a low sensitivity. The clinical utility of NSE assay should be combined with the results of other tumor markers examination and the detail clinical information of patient. Further studies are needed to confirm the role of NSE in diagnosing MPE.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-017-3572-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Diagnostic Value of Neuron-Specific Enolase (NSE) and Cancer Antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) in the Diagnosis of Pleural Effusions

Introduction: Pleural effusion diagnosis plays an important role in determining treatment strategies. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic capacity of tumor markers CA 15-3 and NSE solely or in combination in differentiating the nature of pleural fluid. Methods and Materials: In this cross-sectional study we evaluated 93 patients with pleural effusions (44 malignant and 49 benign). NSE and CA 15-3 serum and pleural levels were measured simultaneously using immunoenzyme assay kits. Diagnosis was established on the basis of cytological study. Results: Sensitivity and specificity of CA 15-3 serum and pleural level measurement were 70.4%, 49.0%, and 79.5% and 49.0%, respectively. Serum NSE levels had 75.0% sensitivity and 69.4% specificity while the respective pleural figures were 75.0% and 73.5%. The combination of NSE and CA 15-3 serum and pleural levels had the highest sensitivity (93.2%), although combined serum levels had the lowest sensitivity (47.7%). With an accuracy of 74.2%, pleural levels of NSE had the highest diagnostic potential. Conclusion: Measuring NSE and CA 15-3 tumor markers is a suitable approach to distinguish the nature of pleural effusions, with NSE pleural levels demonstrating the highest diagnostic accuracy.

Diagnostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen in malignant pleural effusion: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Conventional tests are not always helpful in making a diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion (MPE). Many studies have investigated the utility of pleural carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the early diagnosis of MPE. The present meta-analysis determined the accuracy of CEA measurement in the diagnosis of MPE.

METHODS

A systematic review of English language studies was conducted and data on the accuracy of pleural CEA concentrations in the diagnosis of MPE were pooled using random effects models. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to summarize the overall test performance.

RESULTS

Forty-five studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The summary estimates for CEA in the diagnosis of MPE were: sensitivity 0.54 (95% CI: 0.52-0.55), specificity 0.94 (95% CI: 0.93-0.95), positive likelihood ratio 9.52 (95% CI: 6.97-13.01), negative likelihood ratio 0.49 (95% CI: 0.44-0.54) and diagnostic odds ratio 22.5 (95% CI: 15.6-32.5). Analysis of a subset of 11 studies which examined the value of pleural CEA in ruling out a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma found that the sensitivity and specificity of a CEA level exceeding cut-off values were 0.97 (95% CI: 0.93-0.99) and 0.60 (95% CI: 0.55-0.65), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Measurement of pleural CEA is likely to be a useful diagnostic tool for confirming MPE, and is also helpful in the differential diagnosis between malignant pleural mesothelioma and metastatic lung cancer. The results of CEA assays should be interpreted in parallel with clinical findings and the results of conventional tests.

Diagnostic work-up of pleural effusions

A wide range of diseases may be the cause of an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space. Pleural effusion is a major diagnostic problem, since the pleura is an inner cavity with no direct access. The aim of this review is to provide a practical approach to the investigation of the patient presenting with pleural effusion. This should help to accurately diagnose pleural effusion and keep time-consuming, but necessary, invasive investigations to the minimum.

Diagnostic utility of serum and pleural fluid carcinoembryonic antigen, neuron-specific enolase, and cytokeratin 19 fragments in patients with effusions from primary lung cancer

STUDY OBJECTIVES

To assess the diagnostic values of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and cytokeratin 19 fragments (CYFRA 21-1) as markers of pleurisy in primary lung cancer.

DESIGN

Prospective case-control study.

SETTING

A tertiary university hospital.

PATIENTS

Thirty-four patients with lung cancer and 16 patients with tuberculous pleurisy.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

Levels of CEA, NSE, and CYFRA 21-1 were measured by immunoassay in the serum and pleural fluid of patients with lung cancer and of patients with tuberculous pleurisy. Patients with lung cancer were found to have significantly higher serum and pleural fluid levels of CEA and CYFRA 21-1 than patients with tuberculous pleurisy. Using cutoff values of 5 ng/mL, 20 ng/mL, and 3.3 ng/mL for serum CEA, NSE, and CYFRA 21-1, respectively, the sensitivities and specificities of these tumor markers were as follows for differentiating malignant effusion from benign: CEA, 68% and 93%; NSE, 34% and 93%; and CYFRA 21-1, 45% and 100%. Using cutoff values of 5 ng/mL, 20 ng/mL, and 45 ng/mL for pleural fluid, the sensitivities and specificities were as follows: CEA, 82% and 94%; NSE, 36% and 94%; and CYFRA 21-1, 61% and 81%. A combination of pleural fluid CEA and NSE increased sensitivity and specificity.

CONCLUSIONS

In the diagnosis of malignant effusion associated with lung cancer, the determinations of CEA and NSE in pleural fluid could enhance diagnostic yield better than those of all three tumor markers.

Pleural effusions: the role of biochemical analysis

Biochemical analysis of pleural fluid may provide answers to important clinical questions. This review summarizes these questions and outlines the value and limitations of pleural fluid analysis.

Diagnostic value of CA 549 in pleural fluid. Comparison with CEA, CA 15.3 and CA 72.4

Several tumor markers have been evaluated in pleural fluid, but their clinical role has not been firmly established. The aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic value of carbohydrate antigen 549 (CA 549) levels in pleural fluid, and to compare it with another previously studied tumor markers: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA 15.3 and CA 72.4. We prospectively studied 252 patients with pleural effusion: 101 malignant (20 mesothelioma) and 151 of several benign diseases. The levels of the tumor markers were measured by immunoradiometric assays (RIA). CA 549 in pleural fluid has an acceptable sensitivity (0.49), with high specificity (0.99). The best combination of tumor markers for differentiating malignant from benign effusions was CA 549+CEA+CA 15.3, with a sensitivity of 0.65, specificity of 0.99 and accuracy of 0.85. The addition of any one tumor marker assay consistently improved the diagnostic value of cytology. In our study, none of the tumor markers was organ-specific. When mesothelioma and hematological malignancy were ruled-out, the combination of CA 549+CEA+CA 15.3, improved the results up to a sensitivity of 0.77, specificity of 1 and accuracy of 0.92. In conclusion, CA 549 assay has an acceptable sensitivity with high specificity. The best combination of tumor markers in this series with a high relative frequency of mesothelioma and low frequency of breast carcinoma was CA 549+CEA+CA 15.3. Individual tumor markers or their combination increased the sensitivity of pleural cytology.

Diagnostic utility of CYFRA 21-1 in malignant pleural effusion

OBJECTIVE

The diagnostic utility of the tumour marker CYFRA 21-1 in malignant pleural effusion is not yet clear. This study was designed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of serum and pleural fluid CYFRA 21-1 in malignant pleural effusion.

METHODOLOGY

The validity of serum and pleural fluid CYFRA 21-1 was determined in 62 patients with exudative pleural effusion (27 malignant and 35 benign). The diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion was defined by cytological or histological results.

RESULTS

A statistically significant difference between the geometric means of CYFRA 21-1 levels in pleural fluid of benign and malignant aetiologies was observed (11.2 vs 63.3 ng/mL, P < 0.0001). In addition, there was a significant difference in the serum levels (0.95 vs 5.55 ng/mL, P < 0.0001). The sensitivity and specificity of pleural fluid CYFRA 21-1 in malignant pleural effusion, at the cut-off value of 55 ng/mL, was 74.1% and 97.1%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of serum CYFRA 21-1, at the cut-off value of 2.5 ng/mL, was 81.5% and 97.1%, respectively. Using a combination of serum and pleural fluid CYFRA 21-1 level, the sensitivity increased to 88.9%.

CONCLUSION

Serum and pleural fluid CYFRA 21-1 are useful as measures in differentiating malignant from benign pleural effusion.

Diagnostic usefulness of tumour marker levels in pleural effusions of malignant and benign origin

Pleural effusion is a common diagnostic problem. The analysis of serum and body fluids for tumor markers has been intensively applied to clinical diagnosis. The aim of the present study was to determine the usefulness of simultaneous quantification of carbohydrate antigen 19.9, carbohydrate antigen 125, neuron specific enolase, mucinous-carcinoma-associated antigen, and ferritin in samples of pleural fluids in the malign pleural effusion and its differentiation from benign effusions. A total of 61 pleural effusions were collected from the patients, who were subjected either to simple needle aspiration or to tube drainage for the diagnosis of pleural effusion. Tumor markers were determined in benign patient groups with nonspecific pleurisy, tuberculous pleurisy, empyema, congestive heart failure and in malignancy groups consisting of adenocarcinoma, small cell lung carcinoma, mesothelioma, epidermoid lung cancer. The tumor markers CA-19.9, CA-125, NSE, and ferritin levels were quantified by the sandwich assay using the streptavidin technology of ELISA in an ES-300 Boehringer-Mannheim analyser. MCA was measured by employing a two-side solid phase EIA method. MCA measurements were done by the Cobas-Core. For all patients, the effusions correctly or incorrectly identified by the different procedures as being malignant or nonmalignant are defined as true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative, the term 'positive' referring to histologically proven malignant pleural effusion while nonmalignant effusions are referred to as 'negative'. Therefore, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were defined as diagnostic parameters. The cut-off values calculated were 352 U/ml for CA-125, 54 U/ml for CA-19.9, 555 for ferritin, 11.1 for MCA and 8.7 for NSE. In our study, the highest sensitivity is found to be MCA with 100%; specificity, CA-19.9 with 97%; PPV, CA-19.9 and MCA with 95% and NPV, MCA with 100%. Our data imply that the co-measurement of MCA+CA-19.9+CA-125 levels may further improve their diagnostic value in malignant pleural effusion compared with that of each tumour marker alone and may be useful in distinguishing malignant from benign pleural effusions.

Use of tumor markers for differential diagnosis of mesothelioma and secondary pleural malignancies

STUDY OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to assess diagnosis value of tumor markers for differential diagnosis between mesothelioma and other pleural tumors.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Prospective study of 85 patients attending our hospital with malignant pleural effusion. The diagnostic approach involved routine pleurocentesis followed by pleural needle. When precise diagnosis was not achieved, thoracoscopy with pleural biopsies was performed. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), hyaluronic acid, tissue polypeptide antigen and cyfra 21 to 1 were measured in serum and pleural fluid.

RESULTS

By using receiver operating characteristics curves and area under curves, the best diagnostic characteristics were obtained with pleural and serum CEA concentrations. The area under the curve was larger for pleural ACE than for serum ACE. The sensitivity and specificity of a pleural CEA level exceeding 3 ng/mL for ruling out the diagnosis of mesothelioma were 100% and 77%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

A CEA level above 3 ng/mL in pleural fluid eliminated the diagnosis of mesothelioma, whereas the other markers were not sufficiently discriminant. However, despite a negative predictive value of 100% at a cutoff of 3 ng/mL, CEA assay in pleural fluid only avoids a small number of diagnostic thoracoscopies.

Evaluation of seven tumour markers in pleural fluid for the diagnosis of malignant effusions

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigens 15-3, 19-9 and 72-4 (CA 15-3, CA 19-9 and CA 72-4), cytokeratin 19 fragments (CYFRA 21-1), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) were evaluated in pleural fluid for the diagnosis of malignant effusions. With a specificity of 99%, determined in a series of 121 benign effusions, the best individual diagnostic sensitivities in the whole series of 215 malignant effusions or in the subgroup of adenocarcinomas were observed with CEA, CA 15-3 and CA 72-4. As expected, a high sensitivity was obtained with SCC in squamous cell carcinomas and with NSE in small-cell lung carcinomas. CYFRA and/or CA 15-3 were frequently increased in mesotheliomas. Discriminant analysis showed that the optimal combination for diagnosis of non-lymphomatous malignant effusions was CEA + CA 15-3 + CYFRA + NSE: sensitivity of 94.4% with an overall specificity of 95%. In malignant effusions with a negative cytology, 83.9% were diagnosed using this association. The association CYFRA + NSE + SCC was able to discriminate adenocarcinomas from small-cell lung cancers. Regarding their sensitivity and their complementarity, CEA, CA 15-3, CYFRA 21-1, NSE and SCC appear to be very useful to improve the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusions.

Diagnostic utility of CYFRA 21-1, carcinoembryonic antigen, CA 125, neuron specific enolase, and squamous cell antigen level determinations in the serum and pleural fluid of patients with pleural effusions

BACKGROUND

To the authors' knowledge the role of tumor marker determination in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusions has not been established definitively. The current article reports the results of a study of CYFRA 21-1, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 125 (CA 125), squamous cell antigen (SCC), and neuron specific enolase (NSE) in the serum and pleural fluid of patients with pleural effusions of diverse etiologies.

METHODS

One hundred forty-six patients with pleural effusions (43 malignant, 47 tuberculous, 32 miscellaneous benign, and 24 paramalignant) were studied prospectively. Levels of CYFRA 21-1, CA 125, CEA, NSE, and SCC were measured by radioimmunoassay in the pleural fluid in all patients and in the serum in 118 patients.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences between the serum and pleural fluid levels of tumor markers with the exception of CA 125, which was higher in the pleural fluid. With maximum specificity, the highest sensitivity in the diagnosis of pleural malignancy was obtained with a combination of CYFRA 21-1 (with a cutoff value of 150 U/L), CEA (with a cutoff value of 40 ng/mL), and CA 125 (with a cutoff value of 1000 ng/mL) in pleural fluid. NSE and SCC added no diagnostic value. The simultaneous use of tumor markers and cytology in pleural fluid increased the sensitivity from 55.8% to 81%.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that a combination of CYFRA 21-1, CEA, and CA 125 in the pleural fluid can be a useful addition to pleural cytology in the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion.

Utility of tumour markers in the diagnosis of neoplastic pleural effusion

Approximately 20% of pleural effusions are caused by neoplastic processes. Although cytology is the most specific routine diagnostic procedure, its sensitivity of 50-60% is insufficient, and thus diagnosis is usually carried out by more invasive techniques such as pleural biopsy, thoracoscopy or thoracotomy. The object of this study is to evaluate the use of determining some tumour markers in pleural fluid obtained by thoracocentesis for diagnosis of neoplastic pleural effusion. Patients (271) with pleural effusions were classified in five groups: I: neoplasms n = 88; II: tuberculosis n = 63; III: parapneumonics n = 53; IV: miscellaneous exudates n = 39 and V: transudates n = 28. The tumour markers studied were: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA 125, squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), and neuron specific enolase (NSE). The tumour makers had the following diagnostic efficiencies for neoplastic origin of the pleural effusion: CEA 76% (sensitivity 31%, specificity 93%); CA 125 66% (70% and 61%); SCC 65% (48% and 80%) and NSE 53% (30% and 89%). The diagnostic efficiencies for pulmonary neoplastic origins were 68% for NSE (sensitivity 83%, specificity 53%); 65% for SCC (54% and 75%); 63% for CEA (80% and 48%) and 61% for CA 125 (79% and 42%). We believe that the routine testing of tumour markers in pleural fluid obtained by thoracocentesis would greatly increase diagnostic effectiveness and could avoid the practice of more aggressive diagnostic techniques on the patient.

Carcinoembryonic antigen, tissue polypeptide antigen and neuron-specific enolase pleural levels used to classify small-cell and non-small-cell lung cancer patients by discriminant analysis

The classification of lung cancer into small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is essential for disease prognosis and treatment. For this purpose, we have tried to optimize the use of three tumour markers determined on pleural effusions, to differentiate SCLC from NSCLC by means of a canonic variable, generated by discriminant analysis, including subjects with histologically proven lung cancer. Discriminant analysis was performed by using carcinoembryonic antigen, neuron-specific enolase and tissue polypeptide antigen pleural levels, determined in 65 consecutive and unselected patients, histologically classified as 49 NSCLC and 16 SCLC. To validate the formula generated, a control group of 37 lung cancer patients (10 SCLC and 27 NSCLC), enrolled subsequently, was employed. Applying the discriminant analysis to SCLC and NSCLC patients a good classification was obtained (92% rate of correct classification). The aforementioned formula, applied to the validation group, showed a 92% rate of correct classification. This method, which is rapid, inexpensive and routinely applicable to malignant pleural effusions, may be reliably used to classify lung cancer patients.