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Review
. 2017 Nov 28:8:231-240.
doi: 10.2147/LCTT.S149516. eCollection 2017.

Pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) as a biomarker in small-cell lung cancer diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation of treatment response

Ewa Wojcik  1 , Jan Kanty Kulpa  1
Affiliations
Review

Pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) as a biomarker in small-cell lung cancer diagnosis, monitoring and evaluation of treatment response

Ewa Wojcik et al. Lung Cancer (Auckl). .

Abstract

Lung cancer belongs to malignant tumors that possess the highest rates of morbidity and mortality in the world. A number of morphological, biological and clinical features justify the distinction of small-cell carcinoma with respect to the other histological types of lung cancer. The predominant neuroendocrine phenotype is critical for the selection of biomarkers used in diagnostics, monitoring and evaluation of treatment response; early onset relapses in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and the evaluation of their prognosis. Although for a long time the neuron-specific enolase (NSE) was considered to be the marker of choice for this tumor, it is now increasingly important to pay attention to concentrations of pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP). The results of this marker have been implicated in the differential diagnosis of non-small lung cancer and SCLC, chemotherapy and radiotherapy monitoring as well as evaluation of treatment response. The subject of this series of studies is to determine the usefulness of ProGRP in the evaluation of patients' prognosis and its predictive value. The current aim for the optimization of the effectiveness of biochemical diagnostics of SCLC is recommended by complementary ProGRP and NSE studies. The present work is a summary of the latest reports regarding diagnostic utility of these markers in SCLC.

Keywords: predictive and prognostic values; small-cell lung cancer; tumor markers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ROC curve for ProGRP, HE4, NSE, CA 125, CYFRA 21-1 and CEA plotted for SCLC versus reference group. Note: Copyright © 2016. Reproduced from Clinical Laboratory. Wojcik E, Tarapacz J, Rychlik U, et al. Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in patients with small-cell lung cancer. Clin Lab. 2016;62(9):1625–1632. Abbreviations: ROC, receiver operating characteristic; SCLC, small-cell lung cancer; AUC, area under the ROC curve; SE, standard error.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan–Meier survival curves of 5-year survival based on baseline serum HE4, NSE, ProGRP and CYFRA 21-1 levels. Note: Copyright © 2016. Reproduced from Clinical Laboratory. Wojcik E, Tarapacz J, Rychlik U, et al. Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in patients with small-cell lung cancer. Clin Lab. 2016;62(9):1625–1632.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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