A total of 87 patients were enrolled and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were obtained from all subjects. A significant difference was found in BALF VEGF-C level between patients with squamous cell carcinoma and benign diseases ( P = 0.043). In addition, the concentration of NSE in BALF form the malignant group was significantly higher compared with that of the benign groups ( P = 0.018). However, no statistical difference was observed in BALF CEA ( P = 0.375) or CYFRA21-1 ( P = 0.838) between lung cancer patients and nonmalignant controls. With a cut-off value of 2.06?ng/ml, NSE had a sensitivity of 72.9%, a specificity of 69.2%, respectively, in predicting the malignant nature of pulmonary mass. Our study observed that the level of VEGF-C was increased in BALF of patients with squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, we found that NSE was significantly higher in BALF of lung cancer patients than in benign diseases.
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