Publication details
The Role of Neuron-specific Enolase (NSE) and Thimidine Kinase (TK) Levels in Prediction of Efficacy of EGFR-TKIs in Patients with Advanced-stage NSCLC
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Anticancer Research |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Oncology and hematology |
| Keywords | Predictive biomarkers; EGFR-TKI; NSE; TK; NSCLC |
| Description | Background/Aim: Tumor biomarkers are used for diagnostics and follow-up monitoring of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We focused on the predictive role of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and thimidine kinase (TK) in patients with advanced-stage NSCLC treated with epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Patients and Methods: In a total of 163 patients with advanced-stage (IIIB or IV) NSCLC treated with EGFR-TKIs (erlotinib or gefitinib), pre-treatment levels of NSE and TK were measured. Results: We observed significantly shorter progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with high NSE levels (p=0.002; p=0.003) and also in those with high TK levels (p=0.026; p=0.020). The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model confirmed that high NSE is a strong independent predictive factor for short PFS (hazard ratio; HR=2.36; p=0.003). Conclusion: High pre-treatment serum levels of NSE is an independent biomarker predicting poor outcome of patients with NSCLC treated with EGFR-TKIs. |