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pertile 12124 U/1, range 1268-15280 U/1) were higher than in the bronchitis groxp (median 507 U/1, 16 percentile 96 U/l, 84 percentile 3498 U/l, range 84-3800 U/1). In seven patients with bronchial carcinoma ke- ratin was present in the bronchial lavage in concentrations between 0.2-1.2 mg/l. In addition, the connection between the pre- sence of free keratin in the bronchial la- vage and the expression of this protein in the cytoskeleton from tumour cells could be confirmed by showing that free keratin was also present in the culture medium of a bronchial tumour-cell line.

Role of Biological Markers and Probes in Lung Carcinomas. Dorreen, M.S. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield SI0 2JF, U.K. Clin. Respir. Phy- siol. 22: 137-146, 1986.

Bronchial carcinomas are frequently as- sociated with ectopic secretion of hormo- nes which may be responsible for paraneo- plastic syndromes. In non small cells carci- nomas, serum calcitonin levels may be rai- sed. Hypercalcaemia can be found in squamous carcinomas and secretion of hCG (respon- sible for gynaecomastia) in large cells carcinomas. In small cell carcinoma, many hor- mones (ACTH, MSH, ADH, calcitonin) can be produced; however, their serial measurements as well as that of the carcino-embyonic antigen add nothing to the information available with standard staging investi- gations. More recent studies have identified three proteins products: the BB-isoenzyme of creatine kinase, bombesin and neurone- specific enolase. The latter seems a prom~- sing marker to follow up the course of the disease.

Tumour-associatedMarkers in Malignant Lung Cancers. Piancino, G., Racca, P., Rayneri, W. et al. Ospedale Maggiore S. Giovanni Battista, Torino, Italy. Minerva Med. 77: 19-25, 1986.

The usefulness of assaying tumoral mar- kers in lung cancer is examined. 63 patients (56 men and 7 women) suffering from various types of malignant lung cancer were examined and compared with 44 patients hsopitalised for benign lung complaints. The markers used were CEA, Ferritin, GICA and TPA. Ferritin proved the most sensitive marker with 73% positive results for tumours as opposed to 47.6% for CEA and GICA and only 19% for TPA. The division of tumours into histological types (adenocarcinomas, squamous cell carci- nomas, microcytomas and large cell anapla- stic carcinomas) showed that Ferritin is the best marker for lung cancer (70% posi- tive results in adenocarcinomas and squa- mous cell carcinomas, 62.5% in microcytomas,

87.5% in large cell anaplastic carcinomas).

~Aand GICA display almost the same level of sensitivity in the different histological types: the sensitivity of TPA is low in all cases. Specificity was found to be satis- factory for all markers examined. It may be concluded that best results are obtained by combining the Ferritin assay with CEA and/or GICA tests.

Evaluation of a Radioinmunoassay for Neuron Specific Enolase in Small Cell Lung Cancer. cooper, E.H., Splinter, T.A.W., Brown, D.A. et al. Unit for Cancer Research, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K. Br. J. Cancer 52: 333-338, 1985.

A radioimmunoassay for neuron specific enolase (NSE), a marker of neuroendocrine differentiation, has been evaluated in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). In untreated patients 25/38 (68%) with localized SCLC had raised blood levels of NSE (>13 ng/ml ), in exten- sive disease 34/39 (87%) patients had raised NSE levels. In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) the serum levels were raised in 16/94 (17%). In extensive tumours of non-pulmonary origin NSE levels were increased in 24/116 (20%) patients. Longitu- dinal studies indicated a good correlation between the response to chemotherapy and fall of NSE levels. Tumour progression was accom- panied by a rising NSE in 25/29 patients~ with doubling times of 7-90 days. In patients with progression with a normal NSE the recur- rence was a NSCLC. Cerebral metastases oc- curring.as the only recurrence during clinical complete remission were not accompanied by a rise of NSE. Serum NSE levels provides a va- luable monitor for SCLC during and after chemo- therapy.

Creatine Kinase B Subunit as a Biomarker for Small Cell Carcinoma of the Lung: Comparison with Ganmm-enolase. Kato, K., Ariyoshi, Y., Nakajima, T. Depart- ment of Biochemistry, Institute for Develop- ment Research, Aichi Prefectural Colony, Aichi 480-03, Japan. Jpn. J. Cancer Res., Gann 76: 1162-1167, 1985.

Concentrations of creatine kinase (CK) B subunit (CK-B) in tumor tissues and in sera of patients with various lung carcinomas were determined, together with the concen- trations of neuron-specific gamma-enolase (gamma subunit of alphagamma and gammagamma enolases), by theuse of a sensitive enzyme immunoassay method. The CK-B and gamma-eno- lase levels were enhanced in tissues of small cell carcinoma of the lung. The average tis- sue contents of CK-B in small cell carcinoma (SCCL), adenocarcinoma (ADCL) and squamous cell carcinoma (ECCL) of the lung, and nor- mal lung were 2320, 308, 163, and 372 ng/mg protein, respectively. The contents of gamma- enolase in those tissues were 1460, 276, 225, and 42.7 ng/mg protein, respectively. Serum