To explore the value of serum cytokeratin 19 fragment antigen (CYFRA21-1), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) levels in the diagnosis of lung cancer.

A retrospective analysis of 233 cases of lung cancer admitted to the Department of Oncology from January 2012 to December 2013 in Tai′an Central Hospital, including 181 cases of non small cell lung cancer (129 cases of adenocarcinoma, 52 cases of squamous cell carcinoma), 47 cases of small cell carcinoma, 5 cases of other types and 30 cases of benign lung lesions in the same period as control group. The serum levels of CYFRA21-1, CA125 and CA50 were detected by electrochemiluminescence. The levels of the 3 markers in patients with different pathological types of lung cancer and the diagnostic value of combined detection on the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma and TNM staging were compared, and the Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze the relationship between the patient′s life cycle of the single positive and multiple positive lung adenocarcinoma of the 3 markers in the serum.

The levels of CA125 and CA50 were significantly higher in the adenocarcinoma group [(125.06±42.98)U/mL, (17.43±8.51)U/mL] than those in the squamous cell carcinoma group [(65.06±39.03)U/mL, (11.28±9.01)U/mL], and the small cell carcinoma group [(70.32±49.88)U/mL, (7.43±6.07)U/mL] (adenocarcinoma compared with squamous cell carcinoma, CA125: q=18.21, P=0.01, CA50: q=3.98, P=0.05; adenocarcinoma compared with small cell carcinoma, CA125: q=16.64, P=0.03, CA50: q=5.98, P=0.03). The levels of CYFRA21-1 [(12.28±7.08)μg/L] in adenocarcinoma was higher than that of small cell carcinoma group [(7.07±6.23)μg/L] (q=5.12, P=0.03). In the TNM stage of cancer, the levels of CYFRA21-1 and CA125 in stage Ⅰ [(9.12±8.09)μg/L, (35.23±18.77)U/mL] were significantly lower than that of stage Ⅳ patients [(48.40±13.61)μg/L, (179.36±33.19)U/mL](CYFRA21-1: q=8.28, P=0.02; CA125: q=31.21, P=0.00); the sensitivity of the 3 markers combined detection was 89.97%, while the specificity was 85.09%, and the survival period of the 3 marker single positive patients was longer than that of multiple positive lung adenocarcinoma (χ²=2.91, P<0.01).

Serum CYFRA21-1, CA125 and CA50 play important roles in the diagnosis, staging and prognosis of lung cancer.