Objective To investigate the clinical significance of serum cystatin C ( Cys C) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) .Methods The serumlevel of cystatin C was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) in patients with NSCLC, patients with benign lung diseases, and normal controls. Results The serum level of Cys C in the NSCLC patients was much higher than those in the patients with benign lung diseases and the normal control subjects [ ( 1.47 ±0.78) mg/L vs. ( 1.04 ±0.51) mg/L and ( 1.06 ±0.36) mg/L, Plt;0.01] . The level of Cys C in the NSCLC patients was significantly related to clinical stage [ TNM stage -Ⅱ vs. Ⅲ-Ⅳ: ( 1.38 ±0.88) mg/L vs. ( 1.57 ± 0.79) mg/L] , lymph node metastasis [ metastatic vs. non-metastatic: ( 1.83 ±0.97) mg/L vs. ( 1.06 ± 0.39) mg/L] , and differentiation degree [ medium-high differentiation vs. low differentiation: ( 1.63 ± 0.73) mg/L vs. ( 1.26 ±0.48) mg/L] ( all Plt;0.05) . However no correlation of Cys C with gender, age, and histological type was revealed ( Pgt;0.05) . Conclusion Cys C may contribute to the occurrence and development of NSCLC.
Objective To investigate the changes of thyroid hormone level in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) before and after chemotherapy and its clinical significance.Methods 78 cases of NSCLC admitted between January 2009 and December 2011 were recruited in the study. The level of total triiodothyronine ( TT3 ) , total thyroxine ( TF4 ) , free triiodothyronine ( FT3 ) , free thyroxine ( FT4 ) , and thyroid stimulating hormone ( TSH) were measured by radioimmunoassay before and after chemotherapy. 35 normal subjects were recruited as control.Results The levels of TT3 [ ( 1. 27 ±0. 36) nmol /L vs. ( 2. 62 ±0. 46) nmol /L] and FT3 [ ( 2. 65 ±0. 76) pmol /L vs. ( 3. 79 ±0. 63) pmol /L] in the NSCLC patients were significantly lower than those in the controls ( P lt;0. 05) , while the levels of TT4 , FT4 and TSH were similar to the controls. The level of TT3 and FT3 were correlated with clinical stage ( P lt; 0. 05) , and not with histological grade and pathological type ( P gt;0. 05) . The levels of TT3 and FT3 were remarkably increased in complete remission or partial remission patients after chemotherapy ( P lt; 0. 05) . Conclusion Thyroid hormone measurement may be useful in the patients condition judgment and therapeutic effect monitoring.
Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of strain elastography (SE) and virtual touch tissue image quantification (VTIQ) technique in determining the nature of cervical lymph nodes in patients with lung cancer. Methods A total of 124 patients with lung cancer combined with cervical lymph node enlargement were selected for this study. All patients underwent routine ultrasound examination, using SE to detect lymph nodes and scored them, and using VTIQ technique fro measurement of lymph node shear wave velocity (SWV). Pathological results were taken as gold standards. Non-metastatic lymph nodes were included in the benign group, while metastatic lymph nodes were included in the malignant group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated. The optimal cutoff value of SWV was determined for predicting metastatic lymph nodes, the area under curve (AUC) of SE and VTIQ technique was compared, and the diagnostic efficacy of SE and VTIQ technique for benign and malignant lymph nodes was analyzed. Results Among the 124 patients, 28 cases of benign lymph nodes had an SE score of 2 - 3, and 59 cases of malignant lymph nodes had an SE score of 4 - 5. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of SE were 70.2%, 75.6%, and 60.9%, respectively. The maximum, minimum, median, and mean values of SWV in the malignant lymph nodes were significantly higher than those in the benign lymph nodes in VTIQ technique testing (P<0.05). Based on the ROC curve analysis, the mean value of SWV had the highest diagnostic efficiency, and its cutoff value of 3.18 m/s was used as the diagnostic criterion for predicting malignant lymph nodes. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the VTIQ technique in diagnosing malignant lymph nodes were 85.5%, 92.3%, and 73.9%, respectively. The AUC of SE and VTIQ technique were 0.713 and 0.896, respectively, indicating higher diagnostic value of VTIQ technique. Conclusions Both SE and VTIQ technique have high accuracy in determining the nature of cervical lymph nodes in lung cancer patients. Compared with SE, VTIQ technique showed superior diagnostic performance, and SWVmean has the best diagnostic performance. It can provide a new non-invasive examination method for evaluating the nature of cervical lymph nodes in lung cancer patients in clinical practice.
ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between UBE2Q1 expression and clinicopathologic features and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma. MethodsThis study retrospectively chose the cancer tissue and para-carcinoma tissue samples of 74 patients with stage I to III lung adenocarcinoma who received radical resection in Nanjing Chest Hospital from January 2013 to December 2016. Immunohistochemistry staining was used to detect the expression level of UBE2Q1, and patients were divided into high-expression group and low-expression group according to the Immunohistochemistry staining score. The correlation of UBE2Q1 expression level and clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed by Chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analyzed the correlation between UBE2Q1 and prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma patients. The risk factors affecting the survival of lung adenocarcinoma patients were analyzed by univariate and multivariate Cox proportional risk models. ResultsUBE2Q1 was highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues, and the expression level was correlated with tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage (P<0.05), and did not correlate with patients’ gender, age, smoking history, and tumor differentiation (P>0.05). The results of the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with low expression of UBE2Q1 compared with those with high expression of UBE2Q1 had longer DFS and OS (both P<0.05). Cox proportional risk model showed that tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage, and high UBE2Q1 expression were the risk factors for DFS and OS, among which TNM stage was an independent risk factor. ConclusionUBE2Q1 was highly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and correlated with large tumor diameter, lymph node metastasis, late TNM stage and poorer prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma, and UBE2Q1 was a risk factor for lung adenocarcinoma.
Objective To investigate the clinical value of plasma copeptin in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Methods Ninety patients with AECOPD admitted between October 2013 and November 2015 were recruited as an AECOPD group, and 40 healthy subjects underwent physical examination simultaneously were recruited as a control group. According to patient history and severity, the AECOPD patients were divided into 3 groups: grade Ⅰ group (25 cases), grade Ⅱ group (45 cases) and grade Ⅲ group (20 cases). Plasma copeptin level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The changes of copeptin, the total counts of white blood cells (WBC), and C-reactive protein (CRP) of the AECOPD patients were compared before and after treatment. Then the correlations between plasma levels of copeptin and severity of AECOPD were evaluated. Results The plasma level of copeptin in the AECOPD group was higher than that in the control group [(16.4±5.2) pmol/L vs. (5.7±2.8) pmol/L, P<0.05), and gradually increased with the severity of AECOPD. For the AECOPD patients both before and after treatment, the copeptin concentrations were positive correlated with the plasma CRP concentrations and the total counts of WBC in blood (both P<0.05). Conclusions The plasma levels of copeptin gradually increase with the severity of AECOPD. The changes of plasma copeptin may be as an indicator for the severity of AECOPD.
Objective To evaluate the diagnosis value of radial probe endobronchial ultrasound guide sheath transbronchial lung biopsy (RP-EBUS-GS-TBLB) combination with rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) in peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs). Methods One hundred and fifty-eight patients with PPLs identified by computed tomography in Nanjing Chest Hospital underwent RP-EBUS-GS-TBLB with or without ROSE randomly between February 2016 and August 2017. The sensitivity, the procedure time, the biopsy times, and the complications were evaluated in the two groups. Results The diagnostic yield was 85.7% (72/84) in ROSE group and 70.3% (52/74) in No-ROSE group. There was significant difference in diagnostic sensitivity between the two groups (P<0.05). The mean procedure time and number of biopsy in ROSE group were less than those in No-ROSE group (P<0.01). No severe procedure related complications such as pneumothorax and hemoptysis were observed. Conclusions ROSE can improve the diagnostic sensitivity, and shorten the procedure time. RP-EBUS-GS-TBLB combined with ROSE is a safe and effective technique for PPLs.