Prognostic and predictive significance of plasma hepatocyte growth factor and carcinoembryonic antigen in non-small lung cancer after surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Scatter factor, also known as hepatocyte growth factor (SF/HGF), is a polypeptide growth factor with a number of bio - logic activities, including cell scattering, stimula - tion of cell motility, mitogenesis, morphogenesis, angiogenesis, and cellular invasiveness, it is thought to be important in the growth and spread of several carcinomas.We assessed whether pre - operative plasma levels of HGF and carcinoem - bryonic antigen (CEA) can enhance the accuracy of standard models for predicting pathologic features and clinical outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study com - prised 45 consecutive patients treated with surgery for clinically localized non-small-cell lung cancer. HGF and CEA were measured using the commercially available immunoassay. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the rela - tionship between plasma HGF/CEA and pathologic features. Multivariate Cox regression was used to predict disease recurrence. RESULTS: Patients with lung squamous cell cancer (SCC) more frequently had higher plas - ma HGF, whereas CEA levels were significantly elevated in patients with non-SCC histology. Preoperative plasma HGF and CEA levels were not the independent predictors of overall sur - vival. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative plasma levels of HGF and CEA are not the independent predictors of non-small lung cancer disease recurrence and metastasis after surgery; HGF is a predictor of lung squamous cell cancer. Use of HGF may help in therapeutic decision-making and estimate the histological type of NSCLC.