Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 1;25(1):229.
doi: 10.1007/s10238-025-01779-9.

Dynamics of serum tumor markers may indicate the progression of interstitial lung disease in Sjögren's syndrome patients: new roles for old friends

Jiamin Song #  1 , Ronglin Gao #  2 , Fang Han  1 , Jincheng Pu  1 , Yuanyuan Liang  1 , Yanqing Wang  1 , Zhenzhen Wu  1 , Shengnan Pan  1 , Huihong Wu  1 , Yuhang Sun  1 , Kailong Lin  1 , Jianping Tang  3 , Xuan Wang  4
Affiliations

Dynamics of serum tumor markers may indicate the progression of interstitial lung disease in Sjögren's syndrome patients: new roles for old friends

Jiamin Song et al. Clin Exp Med. .

Abstract

A retrospective case-control study was designed to identify the characteristics and predictors of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS)-associated progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease (ILD). Patients who diagnosed pSS-ILD were enrolled from Shanghai Tongji Hospital between January 1, 2015, and September 30, 2023. Relevant clinical data, including medical history, laboratory test results, and imaging findings, were collected at baseline. Progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) was defined as established standard during one year of follow-up. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between tumor markers and ILD activity status. Characteristics associated with progression were determined by COX regression analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was employed to evaluate the predictive accuracy of the model. A total of 58 patients with pSS-ILD were included. The incidence of pleuritis and baseline levels of carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) were significantly higher in the pSS-PPF group. No significant differences were observed in arterial blood gas analysis, tumor marker levels, or CT scores at baseline. A negative correlation was found between cancer antigen 199 (CA199) levels and forced vital capacity, while carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) levels were positively correlated with the severity of CT lesions. Cox regression analysis identified CEA and CA50 as significant predictors of pulmonary prognosis, and survival analysis indicated that elevated levels of CEA and CA50 were associated with disease progression. Serum tumor markers, such as CEA and CA50, may serve as potential indicators of radiographic progression and declines in lung function in pSS-ILD patients, possibly identifying individuals at higher risk of poor prognosis.

Keywords: Interstitial lung disease; Primary Sjogren syndrome; Prognosis; Tumor markers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval: The study which was an observational retrospective study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, NO. (K-KYSB-2020-153) and was in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study flowchart
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Kaplan–Meier survival curves for pSS-ILD pulmonary prognosis. (A) Differences in lung progression among PSS-ILD patients in different CA50 groups. (B) Differences in lung progression among PSS-ILD patients in different CEA groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Maleki-Fischbach M, Kastsianok L, Koslow M, Chan ED. Manifestations and management of Sjögren’s disease. Arthritis Res Ther. 2024;26(1):43. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mihai A, Caruntu C, Jurcut C, Blajut FC, Casian M, Opris-Belinski D, Ionescu R, Caruntu A. The spectrum of extraglandular manifestations in primary Sjögren’s syndrome. J Pers Med. 2023;13(6):961. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jin Y, Zhang T, Ye W, Zhu X, Wang L, Wang X. Clinical profile and associated factors of pulmonary involvement in primary Sjögren’s syndrome. Med Clin (Barc). 2019;153(8):305–11. - PubMed
    1. Depascale R, Del Frate G, Gasparotto M, Manfrè V, Gatto M, Iaccarino L, Quartuccio L, De Vita S, Doria A. Diagnosis and management of lung involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren’s syndrome: a literature review. Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis. 2021;13:1759720X211040696. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Luppi F, Sebastiani M, Sverzellati N, Cavazza A, Salvarani C, Manfredi A. Lung complications of Sjogren syndrome. Eur Respir Rev. 2020;29(157): 200021. - PMC - PubMed

Substances