CRP evaluation in non-small cell lung cancer

Background: CRP is an inflammatory mediator that is shown to be elevated in different inflammatory and malignant conditions, the aim of the study to see whether the elevated serum CRP is correlated with the advanced stages and increased tumor size of NSCLC after exclusion of patients with high CRP due to infection. Materials and methods: 71 patients with proved NSCLC and 25 healthy control volunteers were selected for the study, serum CRP and PCT were analyzed, results of CRP in patients with NSCLC were compared with the control group, and subgroups were made according to different clinical variables as subtypes of lung cancer, tumor staging and tumor size. Results: The serum CRP level was significantly higher in patients with NSCLC compared to the control group 114.2 ± 60.1 mg/ml vs. 13.4 ± 8.6 mg/ml) with p value <0.001, no significant difference was recorded in PCT level (p > 0.05), there was no significant difference between NSCLC subtypes (p > 0.05), there was a positive correlation between CRP level and tumor size (p < 0.01), TNM tumor staging (p < 0.01). Conclusion: CRP is an inflammatory biomarker that is shown to be elevated in NSCLC and its elevation is correlated with the tumor size and tumor staging but not to subtypes of NSCLC, it may point to poor outcome and poorer prognosis