Combined assays of tumor marker CEA and TSGF for differential diagnosis of pleural effusion

Objective To study the clinical significance of tumor markers combined assay in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusion.Methods 165 serum and hydrothorax samples were collected from 165 in-patients with pleural effusion.Among them ,55 patients were suffered from malignant pleural effusion and 110 patients with benign pleural effusion.The concentration of CEA,and TSGF were determined by chemiluminescence assay.Results In malignant pleural effusion group,the positive rates of serum CEA and TSGF were 58.8% and 54.3% respectively,the positive rates of hydrothorax CEA and TSGF were 75.8% ,70.7% respectively.Among them,CEA and TSGF in malignant group were significantly higher than that in benign pleural effusion group(P < 0.01 ).So as did of the concentration.The sensitivity of combined assay with serum TSGF in diagnosing malignant pleural effusion was 85.7% ,with the specificity of 97.8%.Conclusion Tumor markers of CEA and TSGF have high clinical values in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusion.The combined assay with TSGF is recommended. Key words: Pleural effusion; Carcinoembryonic antigen; Autocrine motility factor