Seven tumor‐associated autoantibodies as a serum biomarker for primary screening of early‐stage non‐small cell lung cancer

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to analyze the levels of tumor‐associated autoantibodies (TAAbs) in lung diseases and determine their diagnostic efficiency in early‐stage non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the levels of 7‐TAAbs in 177 newly diagnosed early‐stage NSCLC patients, 202 patients with lung benign diseases and 137 healthy cases. The levels of a panel of 7‐TAAbs, including p53, GAGE7, PGP9.5, CAGE, MAGE A1, SOX2, GBU4‐5, were measured by ELISA.ResultsThe serum levels of p53, GAGE7, PGP9.5, CAGE, MAGE A1, SOX2, and GBU4‐5 were not statistically different among NSCLC, benign and healthy groups (p > 0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of 7‐TAAbs was all lower than 0.70. The sensitivity of combined detection was the highest (23.73%), while the specificity was the lowest (88.79%). The positive rates of PGP9.5, SOX2, and combined detection were significantly different among the three groups (p < 0.05). Among them, PGP9.5 and combined detection were significantly different between the NSCLC and benign groups (p < 0.05), PGP9.5, SOX2 and combined detection were significantly different between the NSCLC and healthy groups (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThe diagnostic efficiency of 7‐TAAbs in early‐stage NSCLC was not high, so it cannot be used alone as a screening method for NSCLC.