Diagnosis value of serum NKX2-1 for primary lung cancer / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate serum Nkx2-1 (NKX homeobox-1) levels in diagnosis of primary lung cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The serum NKX2-1 and CEA (carcinoma embryonic antigen) levels were measured in 61 patients with primary lung cancer admitted from May 2009 to December 2010 and 49 healthy individuals served as controls. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of NKX2-1 in diagnosis for primary lung cancer was analyzed. The value of serum NKX2-1 in diagnosing primary lung cancer was compared with that of CEA by X(2) test and Kappa test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The serum Nkx2-1 levels in lung cancer were significantly higher than those in controls [(1.4206 ±0.1257)ng/ml compared with (0.7646 ±0.0734)ng/ml,P<0.01]. ROC analysis showed the area under the curve of serum NKX2-1 was 0.859. The Kappa value of NKX2-1 was higher than that of CEA (0.586 compared with 0.396,P<0.05). Combination of serum NKX2-1 with CEA improved the Kappa value to 0.704, and also had high sensitivity (83.6%) and specificity (87.0%) for diagnosis of primary lung cancer.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Serum NKX2-1 protein can be used as a marker for diagnosis of lung cancer, the combination of NKX2-1 with CEA may further improve the diagnostic value.</p>

Determination of volatile organic compounds in lung cancer cell lines and lung cancer tissue / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To identify the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in lung cancer tissue and lung cancer cell lines.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The lung cancer tissue samples from 18 patients were cultured and 4 lung cell lines (A549, NCI-H446, SK-MES-1, BEAS-2B) were also included in the study. Air samples in the headspace of culture flasks were analyzed for VOCs with solid-phase micro-extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy technique (SPME-GC/MS).</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Two kinds of VOCs 2-pentadecanone and nonadecane were detected in lung cancer cell lines A549, NCI-H446 and SK-MES-1. The concentration of 2-pentadecanone were (1.382 + or -0.171) X 10(-5)mg/L, (1.681 + or - 0.190) X 10(-4)mg/L and (2.835 + or - 0.401) X 10(-6)mg/L, respectively; the concentrations of nonadecane were (8.382 + or - 0.606 ) X 10(-6)mg/L, (1.845 + or - 0.130) X 10(-5)mg/L and (6.220 + or - 0.362) X 10(-6)mg/L), respectively. The eicosane was detected in A549 and NCI-H446 with the concentration of (8.313 + or - 1.130) X 10(-6)mg/L and (1.020 + or - 0.141) X 10(-5)mg/L), respectively. All the 3 VOCs were not detected in cell line BEAS-2B. The concentrations of 12 VOCs including decane, 2- pentadecanone, nonadecane and eicosane were high in 18 lung cancer tissue samples; the concentrations of 2-pentadecanone were 5.421 X 10(-6)mg/L-3.621 X 10(-5)mg/L,those of nonadecane were 5.805 X 10(-6)mg/L-1.830 X 10(-5)mg/L, those of eicosane were 2.730 X 10(-6)mg/L-2.343 X 10(-5)mg/L. There were no differences of VOCs levels among patients with different cancer differentiation (P>0.05). The concentration of eicosane in the non-squamous carcinoma was higher than that in squamous carcinoma, the same results were confirmed in the lung cancer cell lines.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>This study has identified VOCs produced by lung cancer tissue, which may support to use breath test as a complementary noninvasive diagnostic method for lung cancer.</p>

A prospective study on the risk factors of Acinetobacter banmannii bacteremia infection in incubated patients with nosocomial pneumonia / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannii infection in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Prospective clinical study was carried out with 176 episodes of VAP with etiologic diagnosis being followed in two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Twenty-six episodes were caused by Acinetobacter baumannii and one hundred-fifty episodes were caused by "other" organisms. Using logistic regression analysis, the risk of VAP due to Acinetobacter baumannii was found to be high in patients with head trauma [odds ratio (OR) = 4.20, 95% confidence interva (CI): 2.72 to 6.48], surgery (OR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.78 to 4.66), acute respiratory dispnea syndrome (OR = 2.81, 95% CI: 1.19 to 6.64), and large-volume pulmonary aspiration (OR = 6.71, 95% CI: 3.91 to 11.50).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Acinetobacter baumannii pulmonary infection in incubated patients had an epidemiological pattern that different from "other" organisms. Patients with high risk identified in our study might mark the existence of cross-infection during airway manipulation.</p>