Original Article


Quantifying the expression of tumor marker genes in lung squamous cell cancer with RNA sequencing

Lin Wang, Cheng Zhan, Yongxing Zhang, Jun Ma, Junjie Xi, Wei Jiang, Yu Shi, Qun Wang

Abstract

Background: We measured the expression of some commonly used tumor markers with RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to identify any that might be useful for the evaluation of squamous cell lung cancer and identify possible correlations between these tumor markers and any clinical characteristics.
Methods: RNA-Seq was performed on five pairs of squamous-cell lung cancer and normal tissues and another 39 squamous-cell lung cancer tissues obtained by our department between September and December, 2012. The expression of 13 commonly used tumor markers was determined.
Results: All of the patients in our study were male. The expressions of CA125, CYFRA21-1, NSE and SCC increased in tumor samples and there were statistically significant differences between squamous cell lung cancer and normal tissues (P=0.008, P<0.001, P<0.001, P=0.001). The expression of β2M and CA15-3 was reduced in squamous cell carcinoma relative to normal tissues and there was no significant difference in the expression of other tumor markers, including AFP, AFU, CT, FER and HE4.
Conclusions: CA125, CYFRA21-1, NSE and SCC may be appropriate tumor markers for squamous cell lung cancer.

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