科研之友
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摘要
Background: The B7 family member B7-H3 (CD276) is involved in tumor immunity including Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We have previously demonstrated an elevated circulating level of the soluble form of B7-H3 (sB7-H3) in NSCLC patients. However, the expression of sB7-H3 in NSCLC-derived malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) and its clinical significance remain elusive. @@@ Methods: We measured and compared sB7-H3 levels in NSCLC-derived MPEs (n = 52) and nonneoplastic pleural effusions (NPEs) (n = 47), and then evaluated the diagnostic performance for sB7-H3 in NSCLC-derived MPEs. The correlation between MPE-derived sB7-H3 and clinical characteristics including TNM staging system was also analyzed. @@@ Results: The median value of sB7-H3 in 52 MPEs and 47 NPEs were 41.60 ng/ml (interquartile range: 36.76-51.30 ng/ml) and 31.55 ng/ml (interquartile range: 26.97-36.63 ng/ml) (P < 0.0001), respectively. At the proposed cut-off value at 38.41 ng/ml, sB7-H3 was capable of discriminating NSCLC-derived MPEs from NPEs with a sensitivity of 67.3% and a specificity of 91.5% respectively. Furthermore, MPEs-derived sB7-H3 was correlated with smoking status (P = 0.005), primary tumor size (T factor, P = 0.03), regional lymph node dissemination (N factor, P = 0.019) and distant metastasis (M factor, P = 0.009) of NSCLC patients. @@@ Conclusions: Upregulated sB7-H3 expression in MPEs is correlated with TNM stage of NSCLC and may serve as a potential biomarker for NSCLC-derived MPEs.
