Objective To investigate the clinical value of combined detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 19 fragment 21-1 (CYFRA21-1), neuron specific enolase (NSE), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) and gastrin releasing peptide precursor (PROGRP) in the diagnosis and pathology of lung cancer. Methods A total of 120 cases of lung cancer patients admitted to the hospital from January 2015 to June 20 18 were selected as the lung cancer group. A total of 90 patients with benign lung disease admitted to our hospital during the same period were as the control group. Serum CEA, CYFRA21-1, NSE, SCCA and PROGRP levels of the two groups were measured. The levels of five tumor markers in different pathological types of lung cancer were compared, and the tumor markers were compared. The difference of diagnostic efficacy between single and combined biopsy in lung cancer. Results There were significant differences in t he five tumor markers between lung cancer group and control group (P <0. 05 ), which was significantly higher than that of control group. CEA was higher in lung adenocarcinoma group,CYFRA21-1 and SCCA were higher in lung squamous cell carcinoma, NSE and PROGRP were higher in lung small cell lung cancer. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of combined detection of serum tumor markers were higher than those of single detection. Conclusion There are some limitations in the detection of single tumor markers. The sensitivity and specificity of different types of lung cane er are quite different. Combined detection can effectively improve the sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of lung cancer detection. It has important reference value for the diagnosis of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]