Value of serum carcinoembryonic antigen in prediction of chemotherapy efficacy and prognosis in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor / 中华肿瘤杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The aim of this study was to detect the pre- and post-treatment serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels after 4 weeks of EGFR-TKIs treatment in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients to evaluate the clinical value of CEA in the prediction of chemotherapy response and prognosis in those patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Pre- and post-treatment serum CEA levels of the patients were measured with immunoradiometric kits after 4 weeks of EGFR-TKIs treatment to evaluate the relationship between chemotherapy response and prognosis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After 4 weeks of EGFR-TKIs treatment, one patient in the total of 75 patients (1.3%) achieved complete response (CR), 17 patients (22.7%) achieved partial response (PR), 31 patients (41.3%) achieved disease stable (SD) and 26 patients had progressive disease (PD). The radiological objective response rate(ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 24.0% and 65.3%, respectively. The median survival time (MST) of all patients was 8.1 months. The MST of SD patients was similar to that in the OR patients (P = 0.06), but both longer than that in the PD patients (P < 0.001). The MST of DC patients was similar to that in OR patients (P = 0.358), but longer than that in PD patients (P < 0.001). Serum CEA levels decreased ≥ 32% and ≥ 61% were closely related with the objective response and disease control. The median survival time (MST) of patients with serum CEA decreased ≥ 32% was longer than those with CEA decreased < 32% (9.5 months vs 6.7 months, P < 0.0001). The MST of patients with serum CEA decreased ≥ 32% was similar to those with CEA decreased ≥ 61% (9.5 months vs 10.5 months, P = 0.370), but both longer than those with CEA decreased < 32% (6.7 months, P < 0.001). Cox multivariate survival analysis confirmed that serum CEA level decreased ≥ 32%, CEA level decreased ≥ 61%, PS score, and DC are independent prognostic factor, but not OR.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>To advanced NSCLC patients, the disease control rate (DCR) may be more suitable than objective response rate (ORR) as an indicator in predicting the efficacy and prognosis in advanced NSCLC patients. Serum CEA levels decreased ≥ 32% may be a reliable indicator to determine the therapeutic efficacy of EGFR-TKIs.</p>