Tumor supplied group of factors in the diagnosis and outcome of lung cancer

Objective To determine the significance of serum tumor supplied group of factors(TSGF) level on diagnosis and outcome of lung cancer. Method TSGF was measured by spectrophotometry in 134 healthy controls and 169 patients with lung cancer (58 newly diagnosed tumors, 43 with recurrent or metastatic tumors, 51 responders and 17 non-responders to treatment.) Results The TSGF levels (±s) were (76.4±18.0)U/ml for newly diagnosed cancers, (75.2±7.0)U/ml for non-responders, (74.6±12.0)U/ml for recurrence or metastases, and were profoundly higher than that (57.3±9.3)U/ml for responders and (54.5±5.2)U/ml for healthy controls (P0.01). Compared with local region relapsed tumors, the TSGF level was obviously increased in distant metastases (78.8±11.4)U/ml vs. (67.1±9.1)U/ml (P0.01). At the critical value of 64U/ml, TSGF indicated any lung cancer with a specificity of 97%, a sensitivity of 77.6%, a positive predictive value of 91.8% and a negative predictive value of 90.9%. Conclusion The TSGF assay might be a critical parameter for diagnosis, monitoring of response to treatment and predicting prognosis of lung cnacer.