Pretreatment levels of the serum biomarkers CEA, CYFRA 21-1, SCC and the soluble EGFR and its ligands EGF, TGF-alpha, HB-EGF in the prediction of outcome in erlotinib treated non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

The aim of this study has been to investigate the potential of serum biomarkers used in clinical practice (CEA, CYFRA 21-1, SCC) together with the serum epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its associated ligands (EGF, TGF-α, HB-EGF) as outcome predictors of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with the TKI erlotinib. The pretreatment levels of these markers were evaluated through immunoassays carried out in 58 patients. The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method and differences between groups were compared by means of the Log-Rank test.