THE USEFULNESS OF CYFRA 21-1 IN DIAGNOSING AND MONITORING MALIGNANT PLEURAL MESOTHELIOMA

Five patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) were studied t o determine whether CYFRA 21-1 is useful for diagnosis of this disease . in pleural effusions, the median concentration of CYFRA 21-1 from 4 patients with MPM was significantly higher than for 34 patients with b enign diseases. The sensitivity of serum CYFRA 21-1 for diagnosis of M PM was 40% and its concentration changed in proportion to disease acti vity in all cases. Immunohistochemically, anticytokeratin 19 antibody revealed strong staining in both epithelial and sarcomatous MPM tissue s. Based on these results, we conclude that measurement of CYFRA 21-1 in pleural effusions and serum may be useful for diagnosing and monito ring MPM.