Detection of Cytokeratin 19 mRNA in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Lung Cancer

Objective To investigate the CK19-mRNA expression in peripheral blood and its significance in patients with lung cancer.Methods Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was used to amplify the CK19-mRNA in blood samples from patients with lung cancer,benign lung diseases,and healthy volunteers.Results The positive rates of CK19-mRNA in peripheral blood were 37.14% in patient with lung cancer,18.42% in patients with benign lung diseases and 5.41% in healthy volunteers,showing a significant difference between lung cancer and begign lung diseases,and between lung cancer and healthy controls(P0.05).The positive rate had no significant correlation with the TNM staging and histopathologic types.Conclusion CK19-mRNA in peripheral blood could be as a valuable molecular marker of lung cancer if its sensitivity and specificity are improved.Further studies with more samples and long-term follow-up are needed.