The is capable of assessing the therapeutic effect and predicting the prognosis of stage IV lung cancer.

BACKGROUND

Instant monitoring of the therapeutic effect of systematic therapy in late-stage lung cancer is crucial for response assessment and strategy adjustment. Previous study found that specific plasma methylation markers may be applied to therapeutic effect assessment. In order to investigate the performance of plasma in assessing the therapeutic effect and predicting the prognosis of stage IV lung cancer, we performed the study focusing on patients underwent chemotherapy or tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-based targeted therapy.

METHODS

Blood samples from 163 subjects, including 30 stage I, 29 stage II, 26 stage III and 68 stage IV lung cancer patients, were recruited in this study. Quantitative relationship between primary tumor size and the plasma level was established. Blood samples before therapy and two cycles after therapy were obtained from 68 stage IV patients, and the level was quantified as ΔΔCt.

RESULTS

Sharp decrease of plasma level was seen in patients with partial response (PR) while not in those with stable disease (SD). The plasma level change reflected the degree of response and correlated with the maximal diameter of primary tumors in linear relationship. The levels before and two cycles after therapy were predictors of the overall survival, while the level change or the tumor size change were not predictors of the overall survival. Furthermore, univariable and multivariable Cox regression revealed that level before therapy was the only independent predictor of the overall survival with a hazard ratio of 1.414.

CONCLUSIONS

is effective for therapeutic effect assessment and prognosis prediction of stage IV lung cancer patients underwent systematic therapy.