TY - JOUR T1 - Procalitonin: A prognosis factor in lung cancer and a marker for small-cell lung cancer JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p2804 AU - Maxime Patout AU - Valery Brunel AU - Mathieu Salaun AU - Suzanna Bota AU - Luc Thiberville Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p2804.abstract N2 - Introduction: Serum procalcitonin (PCT) is used for the early diagnosis of bacterial infections. PCT is also a prognostic factor in thyroid carcinomas and PCT level is also usually increased in small cell lung cancer.Aim: To evaluate the serum PCT level as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of lung cancerMethods: Sera sampled between December 2008 and November 2010 for neuron-specific enolase(NSE) dosage at the Rouen University Hospital were retrieved. A PCT dosage was performed on samples from untreated patients with histologically proven lung cancer.Results: From the 147 blood samples selected, 66 came from adenocarcinoma patients, 58 from neuroendocrine lung cancers (NELC) including 51 small cell lung cancers, 6 large cell lung cancers and one atypical carcinoid, 21 from squamous cell carcinomas and 2 sarcomas.Median serum PCT level was higher in NELC (0.35 ng/ml, [0.11-1.23]) as compared to adecarcinoma (0.08; [0.05-0.14]), or squamous cell carcinoma (0.1; [0.06-0.19])In univariate analysis, patients with a PCT >0.15 ng/ml had a lower median survival than patients with a PCT <0.15ng/ml: 92 vs. 348 days (p=0.0001, log-rank test).Conclusion: Serum PCT should not be used for the early diagnosis of bacterial infection in patients with a NELC. Elevated PCT appears to be a marker of poor prognosis in lung cancer patients. ER -