Prognostic and predictive significance of plasma hepatocyte growth factor and carcinoembryonic antigen in non-small lung cancer after surgery.

OBJECTIVES

Scatter factor, also known as hepatocyte growth factor (SF/HGF), is a polypeptide growth factor with a number of biologic activities, including cell scattering, stimulation of cell motility, mitogenesis, morphogenesis, angiogenesis, and cellular invasiveness, it is thought to be important in the growth and spread of several carcinomas. We assessed whether preoperative plasma levels of HGF and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) can enhance the accuracy of standard models for predicting pathologic features and clinical outcomes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study comprised 45 consecutive patients treated with surgery for clinically localized non-small-cell lung cancer. HGF and CEA were measured using the commercially available immunoassay. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between plasma HGF/CEA and pathologic features. Multivariate Cox regression was used to predict disease recurrence.

RESULTS

Patients with lung squamous cell cancer (SCC) more frequently had higher plasma HGF, whereas CEA levels were significantly elevated in patients with non-SCC histology. Preoperative plasma HGF and CEA levels were not the independent predictors of overall survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative plasma levels of HGF and CEA are not the independent predictors of non-small lung cancer disease recurrence and metastasis after surgery; HGF is a predictor of lung squamous cell cancer. Use of HGF may help in therapeutic decision-making and estimate the histological type of NSCLC.