A pilot study of CK20 mRNA, VEGF mRNA, VEGF protein in the peripheral blood of patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent malignant diseases worldwide that nowadays has become one of the major problems for healthcare organizations in the field of diagnosis and therapy. Nowadays, studying the microenvironment around the tumor and investigating the genomic changes in different types of cancer have been recognized as the most important lines of study in cancer research. Investigating the expression of genes associated with cancer can be very important in determining the type of cancer and its prognosis.
METHODS: According to the estimation of the sample size, 40 patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) were compared with 40 healthy individuals. The qRT-PCR (quantitative RT-PCR) technique was utilized to determine the expression levels of two biomarkers of CK20 mRNA and VEGF mRNA in peripheral blood of the patients and healthy individuals. Also, the VEGF protein was measured by ELISA (Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) technique and the relationship of these biomarkers and tumor staging and cancer progression was evaluated. RESULTS: Comparing these two groups using t-test, did not show a significant difference with regard to the mean age. Positive CK20 mRNA marker was observed in 18 out of 40 individuals with NSCLC and therefore, the sensitivity of this marker was determined as 45%. In healthy individuals eight out of 40 were reported positive. VEGF mRNA marker in the group of patients became positive in 31 out of 40 individuals, which was an indication of a sensitivity equal to 77.6% and in the group of normal individuals five of out 40 people were reported positive. Also, the serum levels of VEGF were measured using ELISA method. 28 out of 40 patients were reported positive, which was an indication of a sensitivity of 70% and in normal individuals group seven out of 40 people were reported positive. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, it can be concluded that the result of this research, which is in the field of tumor markers in lung cancer (NSCLC), can be regarded as a diagnostic-screening test for the early detection of the disease in the early stages because in this study, the two VEGF mRNA and CK20 mRNA markers and the serum level of VEGF were evaluated with a good sensitivity. KEY WORDS: Carcinoma, non-small-cell lung - Biomarkers - Vascular endothelial growth factor A - RNA, messenger - KRT20 protein, human