Abstract: Objective In the present study,we investigated the role of soluble E-cadherin （SE-CAD）,soluble E-selectin （SE-SEL） and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 （sICAM-1） as biomarkers in lung cancer. Methods 168 patients with recently diagnosed lung cancer,98 with small cell lung cancer（SCLC）,and 70 with non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC）,50 cases of patients with benign pulmonary diseases as well as 50 healthy volunteers were enrolled. Blood samples were collected at the time of diagnosis and measurement of soluble adhesion molecules in the serum samples was performed by enzyme-linked immunoassay using monoclonal antibodies against E-cadherin,E-selectin,and ICAM-1. Results Serum levels of SE-CAD,SE-SEL,and sICAM-1 in both SCLC and NSCLC were significantly higher than the healthy subjects and the group with benign pulmonary diseases （P<0.05）. In addition,patients with SCLC or NSCLC with distant metastasis had a marked increase of SE-CAD（P<0.05）,but no such correlation with SE-SEL and sICAM-1 was found. Conclusions Our findings suggest that SE-CAD,SE-SEL,and sICAM-1 have an adjunctive diagnostic role in lung cancer. Furthermore,SE-CAD may also have a prognostic value and could be a useful biomarker in the prediction of lung cancer outcome.

Key words: SCLC, NSCLC, SE-CAD, SE-SEL, sICAM-1