Leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) is difficult to diagnose. CEACAM6 mRNA was discovered to be substantially elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with LM (LUAD-LM) in earlier work. For a study, researchers sought to find out if CEACAM6 may be utilized as a biomarker for LUAD-LM.

Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the amount of CEACAM6 was assessed in the CSF of 40 LUAD-LM patients and 44 healthy controls and in additional serum samples from 138 LUAD patients, including 12 LUAD-LM patients and 30 healthy controls. Chemiluminescent immunoassay was used to measure the amounts of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in the CSF and sera. To assess the diagnostic effectiveness of LUAD-LM, the receiver operating characteristic curve was plotted.

The CSF CEACAM6 level in LUAD-LM was greater than in healthy controls. In serum, LM patients had the greatest concentration of CAECAM6 compared to healthy controls, while LUAD patients had the lowest concentration. In LUAD patients, serum CEACAM6 exhibited a larger AUC than CEA in separating LM from non-LM (0.95 vs. 0.64, P<0.001).

A possible biomarker for the diagnosis of LUAD-LM is CEACAM6.

Reference: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cam4.5221

Author