Junaid Mahmood Alam, Jawaid Altaf Baig, Rabia Shaheen, Aijaz Ahmed, Syed Riaz Mahmood, Saud Naheed, Ishrat Sultana, Siddiqua Jamall.
Diagnostic Importance of Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE) in Pleural Effusion from Patients with Malignant and Benign Pulmonary Diseases.
Baqai J Health Sci Jan ;11(2):23-8.

Background: Several past and recent investigations have focused on the detection and use of reliable tumor markers, such as CEA, NSE and CYFRA 21-1 in pleural fluids, as a less invasive replacement method. Some studies have dealt with the NSE levels of pleural fluid in diseases such as NSCLC, SCLC and benign pulmonary disease such as tuberculosis. Aim: Therefore the present study was undertaken to assess NSE levels in serum and pleural fluid of patients with pulmonary cancer and to compare the data with NSE levels of tuberculosis pleurisy to determine its diagnostic utility and efficacy. Materials and Methods: Pleural fluids were obtained from 13 patients with carcinomatous pleurisy due to SCLC, 6 patients with carcinomatous pleurisy due to non-small cell lung cancer, and 29 patients with tuberculosis pleurisy for comparison purpose. Determination of NSE levels was performed by ECL technology according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Results: NSE results of cytology-positive SCLC were significantly elevated (P<0.001) when compared with those of cytology-negative SCLC, NSCLC and tuberculosis. Pleural effusion of all 29 tuberculosis patients and two NSCLC patients showed moderate significance (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively) as compared to SCLC patients. Conclusion: It is concluded that determination of pleural fluid NSE levels seems to be an effective means to differentiate carcinomatous pleurisy due to SCLC from that of due to NSCLC, tuberculosis pleurisy and cytology-negative pleural effusions in SCLC. However, it is suggested that further studies with larger group of patients is needed to strengthen diagnostic specificity and sensitivity.

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