Serum CYFRA21-1 as an effective tumor biomarker for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

UNLABELLED: We investigated if the serum cytokeratin 19 fragment 21.1 (CYFRA21-1) level was elevated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and can function as a biomarker for detection and monitoring of NPC. Three hundred and one study subjects were divided into two groups: the NPC group (n=126) and healthy control group (n=175). Serum CYFRA21-1 levels were measured before and after treatment using a chemiluminescent immunoassay, and its association with tumor stage and the clinical objective responses were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to discriminate patients with NPC from the healthy controls. The pretreatment serum CYFRA21-1 level was significantly elevated in patients with NPC compared with the healthy controls (5.07±1.98 ng/ml vs 2.36±1.21 ng/ml, p<0.001), and it declined significantly after the entire treatment (2.14±0.72 ng/ml, p<0.001). The serum CYFRA21-1 level of patients with a classification of T3-4 was significantly higher than that of those with class T1-2 (5.64±2.23 ng/ml vs 4.62±1.64 ng/ml, p=0.006), and that of patients with clinical stage III-IV was higher than clinical stage I-II (5.31±2.02 vs 4.04±1.37 ng/ml, p=0.003). The AUC, sensitivity and specificity of elevated serum CYFRA21-1 in patients with NPC was 0.91, 0.83 and 0.89 respectively. In conclusion, the serum CYFRA21-1 level could be a reliable and effective biomarker for the detection and monitoring of NPC tumor progression. KEYWORDS: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, CYFRA21-1, tumor biomarker, receiver operating characteristic curve.

Cigarette smoking and urinary organic sulfides.

In order to observe how cigarette smoking influences levels of thio-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (TTCA), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to detect TTCA in urine from 18 healthy male volunteers. At the same time, the total amount of urinary organic sulfides was determined by the iodine azide test (IAT). Nine of the volunteers had smoking histories (5 to 10 cigarettes per day, as the smoking group), and the rest only occasionally smoke (1 to 2 cigarettes per month, as the control group). Samples were collected in the early morning (limosis) and 90 minutes after smoking a cigarette. Results showed that smoking a single cigarette could elevate the level of urinary organic sulfides both in the smoking and control groups, while a smoking habit appeared to have no significant influence on the urinary organic sulfide level. No significant cumulative effect of cigarette smoking on urinary organic sulfides was found. The influence of cigarette on urinary organic sulfides was temporary. The results suggest that cigarette smoking might be a confounding factor in biomonitoring the levels of carbon disulfide in exposed workers.

Clonorchiasis: treatment with praziquantel in 50 cases.

Of 50 patients infected with Clonorchis sinensis, 3 groups were formed and treated with different doses of praziquantel (2-cyclohexylcarbonyl-1,2,3,6,7,11b-hexahydro-4H-pyrazino[2,1-a] isoquinolin- 4-one). 24 patients out of 50 were followed up for 3 months and another 10 for 6 months. It is evident that this single-day treatment is effective and satisfactory. In 5 patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency no haemolysis occurred.

Paragonimiasis: treatment with praziquantel in 40 human cases and in 1 cat.

40 patients infected with P. westermani were divided into 3 groups and treated with praziquantel (2-cyclohexylcarbonyl-1,2,3,6,7,11b-hexahydro-4H-pyrazino[2,1-a]++ +isoquinolin- 4-one) by 3 different dosages. Parasitological cure was achieved in 27/40 patients, i.e. 67.5%. Details are given in this short communication.