SERUM CLARA CELL PROTEIN-LEVELS IN LUNG-CANCER PATIENTS - AN ASSESSMENT OF PREOPERATIVE VALUES AND POSTOPERATIVE CHANGES

Serum levels of protein 1 (P1), a Clara cell protein known to have an antiinflammatory effect, were studied in 33 patients with lung cancer before surgery, and 3, 7, 14, 21 days, and 2 months after surgery. The preoperative P1 values of the lung cancer patients mere compared with those of 66 healthy controls matched by sex and age, The postoperativ e changes in P1 which occurred in the lung cancer patients were compar ed with those in 16 patients who underwent laparotomy for gastric or c olon cancer, There was no significant difference in the P1 values betw een the lung cancer patients and the healthy controls; however, the po stoperative P1 values showed a significant decrease 3, 7, (P < 0.001), and 14 days (P < 0.05) postoperatively, recovering to normal within 2 months after surgery. One patient who died of postoperative pneumonia showed decreasing serum P1 levers until death, None of the laparotomy patients showed any decrease in P1 serum levels, Thus, we conclude th at: (a) serum P1 levels do not differ between lung cancer patients and healthy individuals; (b) serum P1 levels significantly decrease in th e early postoperative period, but recover within 2 months after lung r esection; and (c) the postoperative changes that occur in serum P1 lev els could provide important information about recovery from intraopera tive lung damage.