Clinical Significance of HMGB-1 and TGF-β Level in Serum and BALF of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is associated with poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of HMGB-1 (high-mobility group protein B1) and TGF-β (transforming growth factor beta) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We studied 45 patients with NSCLC prior to chemotherapy, 23 patients with Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann (BBS) disease (sarcoidosis), and 15 healthy volunteers. HMGB-1 and TGF-β levels were measured in serum and BALF samples using ELISA method. A higher serum HMGB-1 and TGF-β levels were in NSCLC patients compared with the other groups. TGF-β concentration in BALF was significantly higher in NSCLC than in healthy controls (p = 0.047) but lower than in BBS (p = 0.016). Serum HMGB-1 in NSCLC correlated with age and gender while its level in BALF was associated with distant metastasis. A higher levels of HMGB-1 in the serum of NSCLC patients with progressive disease was linked with shorter overall survival and disease-free survival. We found a positive correlation between HMGB-1 and TGF-β in BALF of IIIB NSCLC group and overall survival (p = 0.04; p = 0.003). Our findings confirmed that the measurement of HMGB-1 and TGF-β levels in serum and BALF of patients with NSCLC prior to treatment may have clinical usefulness and predict poor prognosis.