Early detection of lung cancer by using an autoantibody panel in Chinese population

We have previously identified a panel of autoantibodies (AABs), including p53, GAGE7, PGP9.5, CAGE, MAGEA1, SOX2 and GBU4-5, that was helpful in the early diagnosis of lung cancer. This large-scale, multicenter study was undertaken to validate the clinical value of this 7-AABs panel for early detection of lung cancer in a Chinese population. Two independent sets of plasma samples from 2308 participants were available for the assay of AABs (training set = 300; validation set = 2008). The concentrations of AABs were quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the optimal cutoff value for each AAB was determined in the training set and then applied in the validation set. The value of the 7-AABs panel for the early detection of lung cancer was assessed in 540 patients who presented with ground-glass nodules (GGNs) and/or solid nodules. In the validation set, the sensitivity and specificity of the 7-AABs panel were 61% and 90%, respectively. For stage I and stage II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the sensitivity of the 7-AABs panel was 62% and 59%, respectively, and for limited stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) it was 59%; these sensitivity values were considerably higher than for traditional biomarkers (including CEA, NSE and CYFRA21-1). Importantly, the combination of the 7-AABs panel and low-dose computed tomography (CT) scanning significantly improved the diagnostic yield in patients presenting with GGNs and/or solid nodules. In conclusion, our 7-AABs panel has clinical value for early detection of lung cancer, including early-stage lung cancer presenting as GGNs.