Serum YKL-40 level is associated with the chemotherapy response and prognosis of patients with small cell lung cancer

PLoS One. 2014 May 6;9(5):e96384. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096384. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

This study was to explore the association between the serum YKL-40 level and the clinical characteristics, the response to chemotherapy and prognosis in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Serum YKL-40 levels were detected and compared in 120 patients with SCLC pre- and post-chemotherapy, and in 40 healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were adopted for diagnosis and calculation of area under ROC curve in SCLC. The Kaplan-Meier method, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to analyze the correlation between pre-chemotherapy serum YKL-40 levels and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The pre-chemotherapy serum YKL-40 levels were significantly higher than those of the controls (p<0.001). The post-chemotherapy serum YKL-40 levels in the SCLC cases were lower than pre-chemotherapy serum YKL-40 levels in these cases (p = 0.026). The patients with high serum YKL-40 showed a poorer response to chemotherapy than those patients with low serumYKL-40 (p = 0.031). Univariate analysis revealed that SCLC patients with high serum YKL-40 had a shorter PFS and OS than those with low serum YKL-40 (HR of 1.74, p = 0.033; HR of 1.33, p = 0.001). Cox multivariate analysis indicated that YKL-40 was an independent prognostic indicator of PFS and OS (HR of 1.12, p = 0.029; HR of 1.84, p = 0.025). Kaplan-Meier survival curves further confirmed that patients with low serum YKL-40 have longer PFS and OS (p = 0.016 and p = 0.041, respectively). These results suggest that YKL-40 is a potential prognostic marker of chemotherapy response in SCLC.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipokines / blood*
  • Aged
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / blood
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Lectins / blood*
  • Lung Neoplasms / blood*
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • ROC Curve
  • Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / blood*
  • Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / drug therapy
  • Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / pathology*

Substances

  • Adipokines
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • CHI3L1 protein, human
  • Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1
  • Lectins

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by a grant from “Twelve-Five Plan” the Major Program of Nanjing Medical Science and Technique Development Foundation (Molecular Mechanism Study on Metastasis and Clinical Efficacy Prediction of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer) (LK-Yu). No additional funding was received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.