Expression of Urotensin-II in Blood Plasma of Lung Cancer Patients and Its Significance

Objective: To investigate the expression of Urotensin-Ⅱ (U-Ⅱ) in plasma of lung cancer patients and to explore the relationship of U-Ⅱ with the stage and pathological type of lung cancer. Methods: We detected the content of U-Ⅱ in plasma of 16 healthy adults, 35 non-lung cancer patients and 74 lung cancer patients using radio immunoassay. Results: The content of U-Ⅱ was 2,836+ 1.159pmol/L in healthy controls and 3.539±1.228pmol/L in lung cancer patients, with significant difference (P0.05). The content of U-Ⅱ in non-lung cancer patients was 2.925±0.922pmol/L, significantly different from that in lung cancer patients (P0.05). The content of U-Ⅱ was 2.867±1.836 pmol/L in small cell lung cancer patients and 3.223±1.905 pmol/L in non- small cell lung cancer patients, with no significant difference (P0.05). However, the content of U-Ⅱ in stage Ⅰ-Ⅲ lung cancer patients was significantly different from that in stage Ⅳ patients (P0.05). Conclusion: The expression of U-Ⅱ in the plasma of lung cancer patients is increased. The expression of U-Ⅱ is correlated with the stage of lung cancer and distant metastasis. There is no significant correlation between the expression of U-Ⅱ and the pathological type of lung cancer. U-Ⅱ might have possible regulatory actions in the growth of lung cancer via an autocrine/paracrine path.