Does suPAR Have Diagnostic Importance in Bronchoalveolar Fluid?

suPAR could contribute to the early diagnosis of lung cancer and tuberculosis.

Materials and methods: Bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage were performed on 66 patients with a pre-diagnosis of lung malignancy and tuberculosis who applied to Harran University Hospital. Simultaneous blood samples were taken. suPAR was studied with the ELISA method. It was compared with 30 healthy individuals as the control group. Informed consent was obtained from the patients for the study.

Results: In the patient group, the median plasma suPAR level was 229.59 ng/L and the BAL fluid level was 45.73 ng/L. The median plasma suPAR level of patients with malignancy was 199.40 ng/L, 246.09 ng/L in TB patients and 234.60 ng/L in other diseases. In BAL fluid, the median plasma suPAR level was found to be 56.78 ng/L in patients with lung cancer, 39.24 ng/L in patients with TB, and 44.00 ng/L in other diseases. When the patient and control groups were compared, a significant difference was found in the median plasma suPAR level.

In the study, it was found that plasma suPAR level decreased with age (plasma levels of suPAR for each year was 1.08 ng/L), while it increased with age in the healthy group. In our study, a significant difference was found between the plasma levels of suPAR in the patient and control groups. The mean plasma levels of suPAR ratios of the patients and healthy individuals were statistically significant and the cutoff level was 136.61 ng/L suPAR, BAL fluid level was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: In our study, plasma level of suPAR in patients with malignancy may be a nonspecific marker in the pre-diagnosis period, and may also be a useful prognostic marker in predicting negative outcomes in the post-diagnosis period. In our study, plasma level of suPAR above the mean in male patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma raise the question of whether there is a difference between cancer subtypes and genders.

Author(s): Hamdiye Turan*, Atalay Sahin, Serif Kurtulus, Nihayet Bayraktar and Hamza Eroglu

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