[Combined detection of CEA mRNA and CK 19 mRNA in peripheral blood cells of patients with lung cancer]

To investigate the expression of CEA mRNA and CK(19) mRNA in peripheral blood cells of patients with lung cancer and evaluate its clinical significance.Peripheral blood nucleated cells of 50 patients with lung cancer were studied by RT-PCR to detect the expression of CEA mRNA and CK(19) mRNA.The combined positive rate of CEA mRNA and CK(19) mRNA in patients with lung cancer (82.0%) was significantly higher than that in patients with benign lung diseases (28.0%) and healthy volunteers (8.1%) (P0.001). The expression rate had no relation to the clinical staging or histological type. Compared with single detection, combined detection increased the detection rate but did not decrease the specificity.Combined detection of CEA mRNA and CK(19) mRNA expression in peripheral blood nucleated cells increase the sensitivity of detecting hematogenous dissemination of cancer cells. Long-term survival analysis and more specimens would be helpful for evaluating its clinical significance.