Clinical Value of Eukaryotic Elongation Factor 2 (eEF2) in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new type of tumor biomarker, eukaryotic elongationfactor 2 (eEF2), in serum for the early diagnosis, confirmative diagnosis as well as assessment of treatment ofnon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: 130 patients with NSCLC and 50 healthy individuals undergoingphysical examination in our hospital provided the observation and healthy control groups. An enzyme linkedimmune sorbent assay (ELISA) method was applied to determine serum eEF2 levels. Serum neuron specificenolase (NSE) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) levels in the observation group were assessed withan automatic biochemical analyzer.
Results: The median levels of eEF2 in the serum of NSCLC patients wasfound to be significantly higher than the healthy control group (p < 0.01) and it was markedly higher in stagesIII, IV than stages I, II (p < 0.05). eEF2 was higher with tumor size ≥2 cm than <2 cm (P< 0.01). Furthermore,two weeks after surgery patients showed a significant trend for eEF2 decrease (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Theeukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) has certain clinical values for early diagnosis, verification, and prognosisas well as classification of lung cancer patients.