Understanding the Utilization of the Krebs von den Lungen 6 Test in a Clinical Laboratory.

Background: We aimed to investigate Krebs von den Lungen 6 (KL-6) assay results in a clinical laboratory to better understand patient population and test utilization.

Methods: We investigated serum KL-6 test results in Korean adults by the type of medical institution visited between October 2019 and December 2021.

Results: Overall, 7,677 KL-6 tests were performed in 5,527 Korean adults (3,627 men and 1,900 women) with a median age of 68.3 years (interquartile range 59.6 - 75.8). The median KL-6 level in 507 patients who visited health promotion centers was lower than the other 5,020 patients who visited other types of medical institutions (196 U/mL vs. 588.0 U/mL, respectively, p < 0.05). Increased KL-6 levels (≥ 500 U/mL) were observed in 0.8% of patients who visited health promotion centers and in 57.1% of patients who visited other types of medical institutions.

Conclusions: This study will help to understand patient populations and test utilization for KL-6 in clinical laboratories in Korea.