Carpagnano G E, Foschino-Barbaro M P, Resta O, Gramiccioni E, Carpagnano F
Institute of Respiratory Disease, University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
Oncology. 2004;66(3):180-4. doi: 10.1159/000077992.
One recent line of cancer research is currently directed to the study of growth factors. Of increasing interest is endothelin-1 (ET-1), a mitogenic factor already investigated in several human cancer cell lines, which has been found to participate in the development and progression of tumours. This peptide has an important role also in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) where ET-1 expression has been found in 100% of cell lines.
The aim of this study was to measure ET-1 concentrations in the airways of patients with NSCLC using a completely non-invasive procedure--the breath condensate--and to verify the involvement of this peptide in the growth of lung tumours.
We enrolled 30 patients (17 men, median age 63 years; range 53-74) with histological evidence of NSCLC and 15 healthy controls (9 men, median age 59 years; range 52-70). ET-1 was measured in the exhaled breath condensate by means of a specific enzyme immunoassay kit.
Higher concentrations of exhaled ET-1 were found in NSCLC patients (8.3 +/- 0.7 pg/ml) compared to controls (5.2 +/- 0.5 pg/ml, p < 0.0001). A statistically significant difference was observed between patients with distant metastases (stage IV) of NSCLC (8.9 +/- 0.6 pg/ml) and those with locoregional disease (stage I-III) (7.9 +/- 0.5 pg/ml). A significant reduction in ET-1 levels was found in 14 patients after surgical removal of the tumour either associated with or without adjuvant chemotherapy (6.3 +/- 0.5 vs. 7.9 +/- 0.4 pg/ml, p < 0.0001).
These findings suggest that the measurement of ET-1 in the breath condensate of patients with NSCLC could be proposed as a marker for early detection of NSCLC as well as for monitoring reduction or progression of the neoplasm in the follow-up of treated patients.
近期癌症研究的一个方向是生长因子的研究。内皮素-1（ET-1）越来越受关注，它是一种促有丝分裂因子，已在多种人类癌细胞系中进行过研究，发现其参与肿瘤的发生和发展。这种肽在非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）中也具有重要作用，在100%的细胞系中都发现有ET-1表达。
本研究的目的是使用一种完全非侵入性的方法——呼气冷凝物，来测量NSCLC患者气道中的ET-1浓度，并验证这种肽在肺肿瘤生长中的作用。
我们纳入了30例有NSCLC组织学证据的患者（17例男性，中位年龄63岁；范围53 - 74岁）和15名健康对照者（9例男性，中位年龄59岁；范围52 - 70岁）。通过特定的酶免疫分析试剂盒测量呼出气冷凝物中的ET-1。
与对照组（5.2±0.5 pg/ml，p < 0.0001）相比，NSCLC患者呼出的ET-1浓度更高（8.3±0.7 pg/ml）。在NSCLC远处转移（IV期）患者（8.9±0.6 pg/ml）和局部区域疾病（I - III期）患者（7.9±0.5 pg/ml）之间观察到统计学上的显著差异。14例患者在手术切除肿瘤后，无论是否接受辅助化疗，ET-1水平均显著降低（6.3±0.5对7.9±0.4 pg/ml，p < 0.0001）。
这些发现表明，测量NSCLC患者呼出气冷凝物中的ET-1可作为早期检测NSCLC的标志物，以及在治疗患者的随访中监测肿瘤缩小或进展的指标。
