Could Nucleolin and Nucleophosmin Levels Be Prognostic Indicators in
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer?

 Gül Akın¹, Onur Esbah², Recep Eröz³

 

                ¹Duzce University Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Duzce, Turkey
²Duzce University Medical Faculty, Department of Oncology, Duzce, Turkey
³Aksaray University Medical Faculty, Department of Medical Genetics, Aksaray, Turkey

 

SUMMARY

  

Aim: Lung cancer is the leading cause of mortality from cancer across the world. In this study, the use of serum nucleolin (NCL) and nucleophosmin (NPM1) levels as a marker in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment response evaluation in lung cancer was investigated.
Materials and Method: NCL and NPM1 levels of serum samples taken before chemotherapy and after 3-4 courses of chemotherapy from the control group and the patients diagnosed with lung cancer were studied using ELISA method.
Results: Serum NCL and NPM1 levels of the patients were higher than of the controls (p = 0.085 for NCL, p = 0.000 for NPM1). NCL and NPM1 levels by histopathologic type were significantly higher in adenocarcinoma than in squamous cell carcinoma (p < 0.05 for each). In view of the treatment responses to chemotherapeutic agents, there was a statistically insignificant difference between the values before and after chemotherapy (p > 0.05 for each).
Conclusion: High serum NCL and NPM1 levels were found to correlate with poor prognosis, poor treatment response and low survival rate. It can be concluded that serum NCL and NPM1 levels in lung cancer can be used as diagnostic and prognostic markers for the disease.

 Keywords: cancer, nucleolin, nucleophosmin

 

Corresponding author:

Gül Akın

e-mail: gulakindr@gmail.com