The level of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid prostaglandine E2; is it diagnostic of bronchogenic carcinoma?

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States. Cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer. It causes about 90% of lung cancers (14). Objective: Evaluation of bronchoalveolar lavage level of PGE2 in patients with primary bronchogenic carcinoma. Subjects and methods: The study was conducted on forty subjects; including twenty patients with bronchogenic carcinoma, ten patients with non-malignant lesions, and ten healthy control subjects. All subjects were submitted to fiberoptic bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage was done and examined for prostaglandin E2. Results: The PGE2 level was significantly higher in BALF of group III (malignant group) compared to group I & II, with no significant difference between group I and group II. The cut- off value of PGE2 was 45.63 pg/ml with minimal overlap between malignant and benign lesions. Conclusions: Bronchoalveolar lavage level of PGE2 was significantly increased in patients with bronchogenic carcinoma.

Keywords

• Lung cancer
• Prostaglandin E2
• Bronchoalveolar lavage