Glucose-regulated
protein 78 (
GRP78) is a major chaperone in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is increased in many types of malignant
tumors. The role of
GRP78 in early
lung cancer diagnosis has not been clearly reported. The aim of this study is to detect the circulating level of
GRP78 in the plasma of
lung cancer patients and to evaluate the role of
GRP78 in the early diagnosis of
lung cancer. Plasma was collected from 251
lung cancer patients and 105 healthy controls, and the
GRP78 expression in each sample was assayed using a commercially available ELISA kit. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was performed to analyze the role of
GRP78 in
lung cancer diagnosis. The combination of
GRP78 and CEA, Cyfra21-1 was then analyzed using SPSS 17.0. The circulating level of
GRP78 was increased dramatically in
lung cancer patients (P < 0.0001) compared with the healthy controls.
GRP78 provided a more sensitive and specific diagnosis than CEA in all
lung cancer, ADC, and SCC patients, as well as in early (stage I)
lung cancer patients. The results also indicated that a combination of
GRP78, CEA and Cyfra21-1 could increase the accuracy of
lung cancer diagnosis.
GRP78 could be used as circulating
biomarker in early
lung cancer diagnosis.