Level of plasma endothelin and effect of chemotherapy on plasma endothelin in patients with lung cancer.

Abstract

To detect the level of plasma endothelin (ET) in patients with lung cancer and effect of chemotherapy on it , and to investigate the role of ET in the development of lung cancer. Radioimmunoassay was available to detect the level of plasma ET in 30 cases of normal control subjects and 33 cases of patients with lung cancer before and after chemotherapy. The levels (197.49 +/-24.43ng/L and 200.68 +/-23.13ng/L) of plasma ET in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma after chemotherapy were much lower than those (246.32+/-28.28ng/L and 243.91+/-25.75ng/L) before chemotherapy ( P < 0. 025 and P < 0. 01) , and all of the above were higher than that (168.43+/-21.54ng/L) in the control group ( P < 0. 01) .But the differences were not significant in the patients with small cell lung cancer ( P > 0. 05) . In staging , the levels of plasma ET in stage II-IV were higher than that in normal control group ( P < 0. 01) , and were lower after chemotherapy than those before ( P < 0. 01 or P < 0. 05) , but the differences in the four stages were not significant ( P > 0. 05) . ET may play an important role on growth and regulation in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma , but it is not significant in small cell lung cancer. Chemotherapy can remarkably decrease the levels of plasma ET in squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma , but it may not do in small cell lung cancer. The elevation of plasma ET may be a clinical index in progressive lung cancer.