[Analysis of serum tumor marker levels in 629 patients with pneumoconiosis].

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum tumor markers and the severity of silicosis. Methods: In April 2024, A cluster sampling was conducted on the pulmonary rehabilitation centers in Jiangsu Province. A retrospective analysis was carried out on 629 patients who received follow-up physical examinations for pneumoconiosis from April to November 2023 at the selected rehabilitation centers. 281 healthy volunteers who underwent occupational health examinations at our institution were selected as the blank control group, and 384 dust exposed workers from a coal mining enterprise were selected as the dust exposed control group. Detect the levels of peripheral bloodtumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen CEA, carbohydrate antigen CA199, and neuron-specific enolase NSE in specimens. Measure the patient's forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)), and lactate acid dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in the blood. The Jonckheere-Terpstra test, a non-parametric test for ordered independent samples, was used to compare the expression levels of tumor markers among multiple groups. Spearman's rank correlation analysis was adopted to explore the correlations between serum tumor markers and the staging of pneumoconiosis as well as lung function parameters. Results: Among the 629 patients with pneumoconiosis, 454 were in stage Ⅰ, 150 were in stage Ⅱ, 25 were in stage Ⅲ. There were significant differences in serum CEA, CA199 and NSE levels among patients with different periods of pneumoconiosis, blank control group and dust-exposed control group (P<0.001). Serum CEA, CA199 and NSE levels were positively correlated with pneumoconiosis stage (P<0.05). There is a negative correlation between serum CA199 levels and FEV(1)% in patients with pneumoconiosis (r=-0.082, P<0.05). The serum CA199 level was positively correlated with LDH in patients with pneumoconiosis (r=0.108, P<0.05) .The serum NSE level of pneumoconiosis patients was negatively correlated with FVC% (r=-0.079, P<0.05) .There is a positive correlation between serum NSE levels and LDH in patients with pneumoconiosis (r=0.435, P<0.05) . Conclusion: The serum CA199 and NSE of pneumoconiosis patients are directly related to the severity and stage of the disease, which have practical significance in judging the treatment effect of pneumoconiosis patients and monitoring the development of the disease.