The Prognostic Value of Preoperative Serum Tumor Markers in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Varies With Radiological Features and Histological Types

Prognostic value of blood-based protein biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer: A critical review and 2008-2022 update

BACKGROUND

Therapeutic possibilities for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have considerably increased during recent decades.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the prognostic relevance of serum tumor markers (STM) for early and late-stage NSCLC patients treated with classical chemotherapies, novel targeted and immune therapies.

METHODS

A PubMed database search was conducted for prognostic studies on carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin-19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1), neuron-specific enolase, squamous-cell carcinoma antigen, progastrin-releasing-peptide, CA125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3 STMs in NSCLC patients published from 2008 until June 2022.

RESULTS

Out of 1069 studies, 141 were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria. A considerable heterogeneity regarding design, patient number, analytical and statistical methods was observed. High pretherapeutic CYFRA 21-1 levels and insufficient decreases indicated unfavorable prognosis in many studies on NSCLC patients treated with chemo-, targeted and immunotherapies or their combinations in early and advanced stages. Similar results were seen for CEA in chemotherapy, however, high pretherapeutic levels were sometimes favorable in targeted therapies. CA125 is a promising prognostic marker in patients treated with immunotherapies. Combinations of STMs further increased the prognostic value over single markers.

CONCLUSION

Protein STMs, especially CYFRA 21-1, have prognostic potential in early and advanced stage NSCLC. For future STM investigations, better adherence to comparable study designs, analytical methods, outcome measures and statistical evaluation standards is recommended.

Clinicopathological features and survival of rare primary pulmonary lymphoepithelial carcinoma: A cohort from a single center

BACKGROUND

Primary pulmonary lymphoepithelial carcinoma (PLEC) is a rare subtype of nonsmall cell lung cancer. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic characteristics of resected primary PLEC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this retrospective study, 95 consecutive patients with primary PLEC, who received radical surgical resection treatment, were examined from October 2009 to January 2022. The clinicopathological features and their association with survival outcomes were analyzed.

RESULTS

Primary PLEC predominated in relatively younger patients and nonsmokers, who lacked driver mutations and were always positive for immunohistochemical markers of the squamous cell lineage. Further, 21.1% of patients had abnormally elevated preoperative serum marker fragments of cytokeratin 19 (Cyfra21-1). The median follow-up time was 43.5 months. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were 96.5%, 81.8%, and 64.3%, respectively. The median RFS time was not reached. Cox univariate survival analysis showed that patients with positive lymph nodes had significantly worse RFS than those with negative ones (p = 0.017). The patients with open surgery experienced significantly worse RFS than those with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (p = 0.038). The multivariate survival analysis confirmed that only lymph node involvement (hazard ratio: 2.769; 95% confidence interval: 1.171-6.548, p = 0.020) was an independent prognostic factor.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary PLEC is a rare type of lung cancer with a favorable outcome, more common in young and nonsmoking Asian populations. Driver gene mutations are rare. Regional lymph node metastasis is an independent prognostic factor for RFS after radical surgical resection.

Clinical application of common inflammatory and nutritional indicators before treatment in prognosis evaluation of non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective real-world study

Objective

To evaluate the prognostic value of common clinical inflammatory and nutritional indicators before treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer in the real world.

Method

A total of 5,239 patients with pathologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer from 2011 to 2018 in the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University were selected. Their inflammatory and nutritional indicators (RDW, PDW, NLR, LMR, NMR, PLR, SII, PNI, TP, ALB, CYRFA21-1, CEA, CA125, NSE, α1-globulin, α2-globulin, β1-globulin, β2-globulin, and γ-globulin) before treatment were collected. From the total number, 1,049 patients were randomly sampled (18 to 20% of patients each year) and used as the validation set; the remaining 4,190 patients were used as the training set. According to the eighth edition of the guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and stage risk stratification of lung cancer, the patients were divided into four groups: stage I/II operable, stage III operable, stage III inoperable, and stage IV. We used the X-tile software to intercept and classify the cut-off values of each index in the validation set. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional-hazard regression were used to screen the independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer and establish a prognostic model for 1, 3, and 5 years. The validation set was used to verify its performance. Finally, the Kaplan-Meier curve was used to assess the survival rate, and the corresponding nomogram was established for clinical use.

Results

After screening, no effective indicators were found in the stage I/II operable group. RDW and CA125 were effective indicators for the stage III operable group (cut-off values were 14.1 and 9.21, respectively, compared with the low-value group; univariate HR was 2.145 and 1.612, and multivariate HR was 1.491 and 1.691, respectively). CYRFA21-1 and CA125 were effective prognostic indicators for the stage III inoperable group (cut-off values were 10.62 and 44.10, respectively, compared with the low-value group; univariate HR was 1.744 and 1.342, and multivariate HR was 1.284 and 1.304, respectively). CYRFA21-1, CA125, NLR, and α1-globulin were effective indicators of prognosis in stage IV (cut-off values were 3.07, 69.60, 4.08, and 5.30, respectively, compared with the low-value group; univariate HR was 1.713, 1.339, 1.388, and 1.539; and multivariate HR was 1.407, 1.119, 1.191, and 1.110, respectively). The model was constructed with the best validation power in stage IV patients (C-index = 0.733, 0.749, and 0.75 at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively).

Conclusion

For patients with stage III and IV non-small cell lung cancer, some inflammatory markers, serum tumor markers, and nutritional indicators are independent prognostic factors. Combined with the general data of patients, the constructed prognostic evaluation model has the best efficacy in patients with stage IV and can be widely used in clinical practice.

Prognosis prediction of icotinib as targeted therapy for advanced EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer patients

Clinical trials on icotinib, a first-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), have shown promising results as targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to establish an effective scoring system to predict the one-year progression-free survival (PFS) of advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations treated with icotinib as targeted therapy. A total of 208 consecutive patients with advanced EGFR-positive NSCLC treated with icotinib were enrolled in this study. Baseline characteristics were collected within 30 days before icotinib treatment. PFS was taken as the primary endpoint and the response rate as the secondary endpoint. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were used to select the optimal predictors. We evaluated the scoring system using a five-fold cross-validation. PFS events occurred in 175 patients, with a median PFS of 9.9 months (interquartile range, 6.8-14.5). The objective response rate (ORR) was 36.1%, and the disease control rate (DCR) was 67.3%. The final ABC-Score consisted of three predictors: age, bone metastases and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). Upon comparison of all three factors, the combined ABC-score (area under the curve (AUC)= 0.660) showed a better predictive accuracy than age (AUC = 0.573), bone metastases (AUC = 0.615), and CA19-9 (AUC = 0.608) individually. A five-fold cross-validation showed good discrimination with AUC = 0.623. The ABC-score developed in this study was significantly effective as a prognostic tool for icotinib in advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations.

A Combination of Radiomic Features, Imaging Characteristics, and Serum Tumor Biomarkers to Predict the Possibility of the High-Grade Subtypes of Lung Adenocarcinoma

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

Lung adenocarcinomas (LADC) containing high-grade subtypes have a poorer prognosis. And some studies have shown that high-grade subtypes have been identified as an independent predictor of local recurrence in patients treated with limited resection. The aim of this study was to construct a combined model based on radiomic features, imaging characteristics and serum tumor biomarkers to predict the possibility of preoperative high-grade subtypes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

156 patients with LADC were retrospectively recruited in this study. These patients were randomly divided into training and validation cohorts. Radiomics features and imaging characteristics were extracted from plain CT images. A nomogram was developed in a training cohort by univariate and multivariate logistic analysis, and its performance was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) in the training and validation cohorts.

RESULTS

A total of 1316 radiomic features were extracted from the lesions in plain chest CT images. After applying the mRMR algorithm and the LASSO regression, 4 features were retained. Based on these radiomic features, Radiomic score (Radscore) was calculated for each patient. Spiculation, air bronchogram sign, CYFRA 21-1 and Radscore had been used in the construction of the combined model. The AUC of the combined model was respectively 0.88 (95% CI, 0.82-0.95) and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.86-1.00) in the training and validation cohorts.

CONCLUSION

The combined model based on CT images and serum tumor biomarkers, can predict the high-grade subtypes of LADC in a non-invasive manner, which may influence individual treatment planning, such as the choice of surgical approach and postoperative adjuvant therapy.

Prognostic Value of Combination of Controlling Nutritional Status and Tumor Marker in Patients with Radical Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Background

Controlling nutritional status (CONUT) and tumor markers are associated with prognosis in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study is aimed at exploring the potential usefulness of T-CONUT, constructed by combining CONUT and tumor markers, for NSCLC patients undergoing radical surgery.

Methods

A total of 483 patients with NSCLC underwent radical surgical resection. The receiver characteristic operating curve (ROC) was used to select the tumor marker with the highest predictive performance, and CONUT was combined with this marker to construct the T-CONUT. The Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test were used to analyze the overall survival (OS), and chi-square analysis was used to analyze the association between T-CONUT and clinicopathological characteristics. The independent risk factors were analyzed by Cox regression. A nomogram was constructed by R studio. Calibration plots, the c-index, and decision curves were evaluated for the performance of the nomogram.

Results

ROC analysis showed that the predictive performance of CYFRA21–1 was better than that of CEA, NSE, and SCC. CYFRA21–1 was selected for combining with CONUT to construct T-CONUT. Elevated T-CONUT indicates poor prognosis of patients. Histological type, pTNM, and T-CONUT are independent risk factors associated with patient prognosis. The areas under the curve of the nomogram for predicting 3- and 5-year OS were 0.760 and 0.761, respectively.

Conclusion

T-CONUT comprising CYFRA21–1 and CONUT can effectively predict the prognosis of NSCLC patients.

Hsp70 in Liquid Biopsies-A Tumor-Specific Biomarker for Detection and Response Monitoring in Cancer

In contrast to normal cells, tumor cells of multiple entities overexpress the Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) not only in the cytosol, but also present it on their plasma membrane in a tumor-specific manner. Furthermore, membrane Hsp70-positive tumor cells actively release Hsp70 in small extracellular vesicles with biophysical characteristics of exosomes. Due to conformational changes of Hsp70 in a lipid environment, most commercially available antibodies fail to detect membrane-bound and vesicular Hsp70. To fill this gap and to assess the role of vesicular Hsp70 in circulation as a potential tumor biomarker, we established the novel complete (comp)Hsp70 sandwich ELISA, using two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), that is able to recognize both free and lipid-associated Hsp70 on the cell surface of viable tumor cells and on small extracellular vesicles. The epitopes of the mAbs cmHsp70.1 (aa 451-461) and cmHsp70.2 (aa 614-623) that are conserved among different species reside in the substrate-binding domain of Hsp70 with measured affinities of 0.42 nM and 0.44 nM, respectively. Validation of the compHsp70 ELISA revealed a high intra- and inter-assay precision, linearity in a concentration range of 1.56 to 25 ng/mL, high recovery rates of spiked liposomal Hsp70 (>84%), comparable values between human serum and plasma samples and no interference by food intake or age of the donors. Hsp70 concentrations in the circulation of patients with glioblastoma, squamous cell or adeno non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) at diagnosis were significantly higher than those of healthy donors. Hsp70 concentrations dropped concomitantly with a decrease in viable tumor mass upon irradiation of patients with approximately 20 Gy (range 18-22.5 Gy) and after completion of radiotherapy (60-70 Gy). In summary, the compHsp70 ELISA presented herein provides a sensitive and reliable tool for measuring free and vesicular Hsp70 in liquid biopsies of tumor patients, levels of which can be used as a tumor-specific biomarker, for risk assessment (i.e., differentiation of grade III vs. IV adeno NSCLC) and monitoring of therapeutic outcomes.